Citrus - A Compilation
by mikotyzini
Summary: A random smattering of Citrus one shots
1. Sunday Morning

_A/N: This is going to be a little collection of Citrus short stories - all of the stories are going to be random and show up as I think of them. I hope everyone enjoys them!_

_I don't own the characters :(_

The sun slowly crept through the cracks in the window blinds, a small beam falling directly into Yuzu's eyes, waking her from her slumber. She groaned as she tried to get away from the light. It was the weekend! She wasn't supposed to be awake this early.

She rolled onto her right side so that the sun was hitting her back and immediately widened her eyes in surprise. Mei was still sound asleep beside her!

This was new. Mei normally woke up early to finish student council work in the morning, even on the weekends. Because of this, Yuzu had gotten quite used to waking up to an cold, empty bed.

The plan had been to go back to sleep, but now Yuzu's heart was beating a little too quickly for her to contemplate that idea any longer.

Yuzu slowly slid herself across the small distance that was separating her from the sleeping girl, trying desperately to avoid waking Mei up. While she didn't think she was making much noise, it was difficult to tell over the drumming of her heartbeat in her ears. Once she was close enough to feel Mei's warmth, she carefully laid her left arm across Mei's waist and pulled herself the last few inches that were separating their bodies. As the two girls melded together, Yuzu hid her face in the nape of Mei's neck and sighed in absolute contentment. This was shaping up to be the best morning ever.

Feeling the movement behind her, Mei finally began waking up. She looked down, finding Yuzu's arm firmly wrapped around her waist, and smiled.

"Good morning," Yuzu whispered, as Mei covered Yuzu's hand with her own.

"Good morning, Yuzu," she replied in a husky voice that sent chills down Yuzu's spine. Yuzu loosened her grip slightly as Mei spun around to face her. "What would you like to do today?"

"Are you an option?" Yuzu replied without a moment's hesitation. She immediately felt her face heat up as Mei's eyes widened. Quickly averting her gaze, she said, "Sorry...wrong answer?"

Her flush deepened as she heard Mei start laughing. She frowned as she mumbled, "No need to laugh..."

Mei quickly stopped laughing and gently lifted Yuzu's chin until the pouting girl was forced to make eye contact with her again. She smiled genuinely as she said, "Yuzu, that was the only right answer to that question."

Hearing those words, Yuzu's face lit up in bright smile as Mei wrapped her arms around Yuzu's neck, pulling her into the first of many kisses that morning.


	2. Denial

Ever since she met Mei, Yuzu found herself having to deny things a lot more often.

No, Mei, I don't forget my umbrella on purpose so that we have to share yours on the walk home.

I don't give Himeko wrong addresses so that we could go on an unofficial "dates" without her.

I don't forget my books at school so that we would have to do our homework together.

I don't change the time on the clock in our room so that you'll spend extra time in bed talking to me.

I _definitely_do NOT stare at your butt while you were answering questions at the chalkboard.

I don't make omelet rice just because it's your favorite.

I don't purposefully fall asleep on you when we watch movies at home.

I don't forget to knock when walking into our room so I can see you change.

I don't wait for you to finish your student council work after school just so we can walk home together.

I don't draw hearts in the shower steam on our bathroom mirror for you each day.

I don't think about you when I'm staring off into space.

Yes, Yuzu had become quite skilled at saying "I don't." But on the day that Mei finally asked Yuzu if she loved her, the Yuzu had never been happier to say,

I do.


	3. The Art of Taking Selfies

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! I'm really glad that people enjoy these. I kind of always thought that my writing was boring, but I'm enjoying coming up with ideas for these. I just wish more chapters would come out, already!_

_Anyway, I don't own any of the characters. Enjoy!_

Mei pushed open the door to her shared bedroom with her half-sister, Yuzu. Entering the room, she found Yuzu perched on the edge of their bed, her back facing Mei. Ignoring the other girl, Mei sat her school bag down by the door and walked towards the closet to pull out a change of clothes.

While deciding what she wanted to wear, Mei heard a soft _click_ come from the direction of the other girl, followed by a small giggle. Curiously, she turned to find Yuzu holding her cell phone out at arm's length in order to take a picture of herself flashing a peace sign.

Mei rolled her eyes at the sight. "Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" she asked condescendingly as she pulled a sweater and pair of jeans out of the closet.

"I do have better things to be doing, but taking selfies is an art form! It requires a lot of practice," Yuzu replied cheerfully as she snapped another picture of herself.

Scoffing at that ridiculousness statement, Mei replied, "Taking…_self-portraits…_is in no way an art from. Anyone can do it."

"Yeahh…anyone can take one, but not everyone can take a _good_ one," Yuzu replied matter-of-factly.

Mei felt her pulse quicken, the way it always did when she had to argue with Yuzu over something as frivolous as a…selfie. But Mei didn't like to be wrong about things, even if it was trivial in nature.

Throwing her change of clothes down on the bed, Mei pulled her own cell phone out of her pocket and hastily held it out in front of her. _Click._

Mei looked at the screen and frowned; she had somehow managed to only capture the top half of her face and much of the wall behind her. Hearing a small chuckle, she turned to see that Yuzu had gotten up and was peering over her shoulder at the results of Mei's failed selfie.

"You're a regular Pablo Picasso, Mei!" Yuzu flashed a bright smile, seeming to find a large amount of glee in Mei's failure.

Glaring at the girl, Mei quickly held out her phone again, this time taking a few extra seconds to make sure that the camera was angled straight. _Click._

Yuzu leaned in closer this time to see the results, laughing loudly as she saw the screen. While this picture had turned out better than the last, Mei had now cut out one of her ears.

"Pablo Picasso, indeed…" Mei grumbled as Yuzu giggled uncontrollably by her side. She hated failing at anything and having Yuzu witness was only making it ten times worse. "Guess it is an art form," she said angrily as she threw her phone down on the bed and reached for her previously discarded clothes.

"Wait…Mei!" Yuzu quickly stopped laughing and grabbed Mei's arm before she could pick up the clothing and storm out of the room. "Here…let me show you how."

Yuzu picked up Mei's phone and put it back in the girl's hand. She then used her own hand to direct Mei's hand out in front of them. Moving closer to Mei, she said, "Here, you hold your phone at arm's length, and at an angle justttt likeeee this. See? Now smile…"

_Click._

Both girls crowded their heads together to look at the small screen. Mei actually found herself surprised at the final result. Yuzu had a huge smile on her face, as usual, while Mei was looking at the camera with a look of dubious entertainment. And both of them were perfectly framed in the picture.

Mei smiled. It was a really nice picture.

Yuzu gave her a couple of pats on the back. "Good job, Mei! Your first successful selfie. I'm so proud," she said, clasping her hands together while feigning tears of happiness.

Mei quickly dropped her smile and scowled at the girl, "Find something more productive to do with your time," she said flippantly as she reached down to pick up her change of clothes.

Looking vaguely disappointed, Yuzu sighed. "Productive things are never any fun…" she said as she began walking towards the door.

Mei made sure to roll her eyes when Yuzu turned to look back at her, but after she had vanished from the doorway Mei pulled out her phone and looked at the picture one more time.

Maybe it wasn't such a waste of time, after all.


	4. Answers

_I'm not sure how I really feel about this one, but someone requested jealous Mei, so I tried my best! I don't own the characters, of course._

Yuzu groaned loudly. "Ughhh! I can't figure this problem out!" Lying on her stomach on the living room floor, she laid her head down on her textbook in defeat.

Mei looked up from the book she was reading at the kitchen table and gave Yuzu a stern look.

"Maybe it would help if you hadn't fallen asleep in class," she said flatly.

Harumin giggled from the sofa, earning a pout from Yuzu. "Hey, I know what will help you, Yuzu!" she said, quickly shutting her book and setting it down on the table. "You could…you know…" she finished suggestively, pointing a finger at the front of her shirt and shooting a wink at the girl.

Mei looked at her curiously. Turning to see Yuzu flushing slightly, Mei raised an eyebrow. Just what was the girl referring to?

Curiosity getting the better of her, Mei asked as uninterestedly as possible, "What could possibly help Yuzu?"

Harumin turned to her without hesitation and exclaimed, "My boobs, of course!"

Mei blinked. "What?" she asked. She shot a sharp look at Yuzu, who was carefully avoiding Mei's eyes as she turned an even darker shade of red.

Harumin was undeterred by the chill that was now emanating from the dark haired girl, as she gleefully responded, "Yup, Yuzu grabs my boobs whenever she needs to solve a problem and voila! An answer is provided to her." Harumin grinned, clearly proud that her boobs had a special power other than hiding prohibited items at school.

Mei scowled. She shot a deadly glare at Yuzu, who was closely inspecting a loose thread in the carpet.

Turning back to the still obliviously grinning Harumin, Mei forced an elegant smile onto her face as she coldly said, "It's actually gotten quite late, so you should go home now."

Harumin's grin dropped for an instant at the icy words, but quickly shrugged it off, saying, "Yeah I guess I should go, because I'd have to be groped all night in order for Yuzu to finish even half of her homework!"

Mei slammed her pen down on the table as she shot up from her seat, her chair skidding backwards. The other two girls stared at her in shock, as Mei quickly fit a forced smile back on her face.

"I'll see you out," she said curtly.

Harumin looked at Mei with interest as she passed by her to walk towards the front door. Mei followed, with Yuzu carefully trailing behind the fuming girl.

Reaching the hallway, Harumin turned to wave goodbye before adding, "Hey Prez, you're always welcome to some as well," gesturing to her shirt again with a wink.

Mei slammed the door shut in response.

Yuzu cleared her throat beside Mei. "That Harumin sure is a joker, isn't she?" she said weakly as she shuffled her feet.

Mei quickly turned on the girl, pushing her against the corridor wall. Leaning in so that their lips were almost touching, Mei whispered firmly, "From now on, you ask me your questions _before_ going to Harumin."

Yuzu gave a slight nod, her eyes wide. Mei smiled, pacified by Yuzu's response and the soft blush that was forming on her cheeks. She gently kissed Yuzu's lips as a way to tell her "_good girl."_ Pulling back, Mei took one look at Yuzu's now smoldering eyes before feeling a completely different fire light within her.

Leaning forward, Mei whispered seductively in her ear, "I think I can help with one of your problems right now…"


	5. Adoption Day

Mei groaned as soon as she saw the large banner posted a few hundred feet down the sidewalk, knowing that the peaceful, uneventful walk home was about to become much less so. Just as she had thought, Yuzu squealed in excitement seconds later when she finally noticed the same banner, latching herself onto Mei's arm at the same time.

"Look Mei!" Yuzu exclaimed as she pointed to the sign. "There's a dog adoption event here today!"

"Yes, that appears to be so," she replied, trying to keep any level of interest out of her voice so as not to spur on the girl's excitement.

Yuzu pulled Mei's arm impatiently in the direction of the banner. "Come on, Mei! We have to check it out!"

Mei rolled her eyes. Yuzu was anything but unpredictable. Of course she would be excited by the potential to see some puppies on the way home. Still, rules were rules...

"We can't. It's school policy that students go straight home after school each day. Detours such as these aren't allowed."

At these words, Yuzu turned abruptly and took both of Mei's hands in her own, gazing pleadingly into her eyes.

"Mei," Yuzu started in a sincere, non-joking tone, "this is an adoption event for the local ANIMAL SHELTER. Stopping for just a few minutes won't be a bad thing. It will be community service!"

Mei stared back at Yuzu, surprised at how much she was enjoying the way Yuzu was holding her hands and gazing into her eyes. From this distance, Mei could see Yuzu's eyes twinkling in excitement at the prospect of Mei actually breaking a school rule with her. And for some reason, Mei really didn't want to be the reason that twinkle went away. At least, not at this instant...

Slowly exhaling, Mei said, "Ok...but just a few - hey!"

As soon as Yuzu heard the "ok," she had turned and pulled Mei roughly behind her into the store that was hosting the event. Once inside, both girls stopped to take in their surroundings. The store had moved their displays against the walls to make room for small temporary pens that were currently housing a myriad of different dogs and cats.

"Look how CUTE they all are!" Yuzu squealed. Mei didn't think that she had ever seen the girl this excited before. It really was remarkable how Yuzu could enjoy small things like this. She raced quickly amongst the pens, aww'ing at all of the different animals until she reached the pen in the middle of the store and gasped loudly.

"Mei!" she shouted, "You have to come look at these guys! They're sooo cute!" She waved Mei over to her frantically, bouncing up and down impatiently.

Mei couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face as she walked over to Yuzu, making sure to walk extra slowly just to make Yuzu's impatience build.

"Come on, come on, _come on_! Slowpoke!" Yuzu said exasperatedly as she continued to beckon Mei towards her.

Finally reaching her, Yuzu quickly grabbed Mei's shoulders and directed her right in front of the pen. Mei looked down to see three small puppies sleeping peacefully amidst all the noise and bustle in the store. They were pretty cute.

"Aren't they adorable?" Yuzu sighed as she leaned her head softly against Mei's arm, gazing dreamily at the slumbering puppies. Mei felt her heart beat speed up at the closeness of the other girl; she didn't think that she would ever get used to the feeling of being close to Yuzu.

Too late, she realized that she hadn't responded to the question in a timely manner as Yuzu lifted her head and turned to look at her. "Mei?" She asked. "Are you alright?"

Mei smiled before replying, "Yes, I'm fine. They are quite cute. But we should really get going now, Yuzu..."

Yuzu took a step away from Mei, nodding her head. "Ok! But first, you have to pick which one you would take home. Otherwise, I won't leave!" At the last sentence, she crossed her arms defiantly to make her point. "And you need to have a good reason for your choice!"

Sighing, Mei knew it would be less time consuming to just answer her question than to spend the time arguing only to end up answering anyway. She turned back to the three puppies, trying to quickly find a good reason to choose one of them over the other. Unfortunately, all three of them looked exactly the same to her; they were all the same level of squishy, sleepy cuteness. It didn't help that they were all the same color, either.

Turning back to Yuzu, Mei found the girl eagerly looking forward to her answer. She was quite cute too sometimes...

"I've made my decision," Mei began.

"Great!" Yuzu exclaimed, breaking out her ultra-megawatt smile. "Which one?" She turned back to the puppies, expectantly waiting for Mei to point out which one she would take home.

"You." Mei said. "You're the one I'd like to take home." She was somehow able to say the words with the same level of composure she always had, not belying the sudden butterflies she felt in her stomach upon uttering that sentence.

"Me...?" Yuzu turned slowly towards her, confusion causing her to furrow her brow for just a few seconds before a smile began to light up her face. "Me? Mei wants to take ME home?" She wrapped Mei up in a tight hug, which wasn't entirely unwelcome to the normally stern girl, as she could smell Yuzu's shampoo from this close. She smelled good...

"Yes, I'd like to take you home, so that we don't get caught breaking school rules," Mei said dryly in an unsuccessful attempt to erase her prior confession.

"Yeah, yeah..." Yuzu said as she let go of Mei, still grinning from ear to ear. "Let's get you home then!" She grabbed Mei's hand and began pulling her towards the exit. Stopping suddenly, she turned and leaned in close to Mei's ear, causing a whole new wave of butterflies to invade Mei's stomach.

"Oh...by the way, Mei," Yuzu whispered, "I would choose you too."

Mei felt her face heat up as Yuzu withdrew and flashed her a loving smile. Mei opened her mouth to say something in return, but, for the first time she could remember, words failed to form on her tongue.

Seeing her loss for words, Yuzu simply laughed and grabbed ahold of her hand again, pulling a blushing Mei out of the store behind her.

_A/N – I hope that everyone enjoyed this one! I'm slowing down in terms of ideas for these…but I'll keep writing as many as I have good ideas and time for. Please review if you liked it. I feel all special when other people like my writing! _


	6. My Addiction

The train slowly glided along the tracks, rocking slightly back and forth. I sat immobile on one of the benches, staring out of the window in front of me. My eyes were hardly able to focus on the buildings passing by in front of me, as my heart was beating as though it was attempting to jump out of my chest.

I attempted to remain as still as possible, but after several seconds, I finally looked slightly to my left. The sight I saw made my heart jump into my throat.

There she was…the most beautiful girl I'd ever met… leaning against my side, fast asleep.

I felt my heart do a somersault in my chest. I tried to swallow, but found that my mouth had become exceptionally dry. This feeling was so new to me. Something I'd never felt before, but I found myself craving more and more.

I sought her out every chance I could. Like a moth to a flame, I gravitated towards her. Many times, I caught myself staring at her during class or in the hallways. And for every second I spent near her, I wanted more…more time, more contact, more talking, more laughing, more _her_.

She was becoming…my addiction. And a serious one. It had gotten so bad that whenever I was in a room without her, I felt myself missing her _presence_.

But right now…this moment…it was an addict's dream. And I was drowning in it. Falling deeper and deeper…in love.

Love…I turned the word over several times in my head. Honestly, I'd never really put much thought into love before. I'd always figured that I was too young to grasp the real meaning of love. But as I looked at the girl resting against my shoulder, I am positive that I love her, fully and unconditionally.

I smiled. There, I finally admitted it. The first step is always admission, of course.

_I love you_, I directed towards her, thinking that maybe she would be able to hear my thoughts. _I love your passion. I love your dedication. I love the beautiful person that you are. Even your _flaws_ are beautiful to me…_

Suddenly, she stirred. I froze, holding my breath as my perfect moment teetered on the edge of shattering. She clumsily resituated, cuddling closer into my side, and let out a soft sigh. I waited, still as a statue, until I realized that I was still holding my breath and quickly running out of air. Reassured that she was going to remain asleep, I slowly exhaled.

Finally breathing again, I caught a whiff of her shampoo. I leaned a little closer for a better smell, the tip of my nose barely brushing her hair. Peaches…my new favorite smell.

I heard myself sigh in content. In this moment, I could be as close to her as I'd dreamed of being. I could smell her hair, I could feel the warmth of her body against mine, I could feel her silky smooth skin against my arm. I was on sensory overload, but still wanted more.

I suddenly realized that the train was quickly approaching our stop. I quickly debated whether or not I wake her up or just continue to ride the train like this until we reached the end of the line. I so badly wanted to hold on to this moment for as long as possible, because when she woke up things would go back to normal. I felt my heart clench painfully at the thought. Would she always be one painful arm's length away?

As the train slowed for our exit, reason got the better of me as I gently nudged her awake. As her beautiful eyes met mine, I felt my heart melt. Still blinking groggily from sleep, she slowly sat up and stretched her arms above her head before saying, "Are we there yet?"

I tried to hide my disappointment at the absence of her warmth against my side as I replied, "Yes, we should hurry off now."

As we both exited the train, I gloomily welcomed myself back to the real world. The world where I could only love her from afar.

Walking side by side, she turned towards me. "Sorry, for falling asleep on you. I hope you weren't too uncomfortable," she said with a small apologetic smile.

I felt another sharp pain in my chest.

"It wasn't uncomfortable at all," I began. She raised an eyebrow at me before she said, "Really?"

I took a deep, shaky breath before answering her. "No, it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, it was…nice." I smiled to myself, remembering the feeling of her by my side.

She looked at me curiously, trying to figure out if I was trying to make a joke or not. I gave her what I hoped was a sincere expression in return. Seeing this, she broke into the most radiant smile I'd ever seen on her face. My heart broke into thousands of tiny butterflies, which immediately began flying around my chest. All I could do was smile back at her as she gently took my hand and gave it a tug so that we could continue walking.

Suddenly, it hit me. I was never going to recover from my addiction to her. If anything, it was only going to get worse. My dependency on her would only grow with each passing moment I spent with her, until being separated from her would become intolerable.

But maybe…I thought as I looked down at her hand clasped tightly in mine…maybe recovery was never the answer.

"Hey…" I began slowly, "Can I talk to you about something important?"

**** Sorry for the long absence. I've been crazy with work. I tried to write this so that it was unclear from whose perspective it was from and who they were thinking about. Not sure how successful I was, but I thought it would be interesting to see which characters you put in each role! Feel free to message me if you'd like to know which characters I thought would go in each role. Please review if you have time! **


	7. First Day - Rerun

**This is just a small idea I had that I needed to get out of my head. I thought it would be interesting if Mei and Yuzu met in a different way, and a little bit of Mei's reaction to it. And here it is! Just a small trifle, but hopefully enjoyable nonetheless.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Citrus.**

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><p>Mei sighed as she observed her noisy surroundings in slight disdain.<p>

"_Why_ am I here again, Himeko?" she asked the Vice President as she leveled a glare at several girls who were speaking a bit too loudly, effectively quieting their volume.

The drill haired girl sitting across from her gave a nervous chuckle before responding carefully to the question.

"Since it's the first day…I thought that it would be a good idea for us to eat lunch in the cafeteria. It will greatly increase your visibility and cement your status as President of the Student Council." Himeko nodded appreciatively to herself as she finished speaking, clearly satisfied with her "good" idea.

Mei could not help letting out another sigh as she turned her attention towards the dismal food laid out on the tray in front of her. None of it looked remotely appetizing, but this is what she got for having to buy the cafeteria food. She made a mental note to try to improve the quality of food options this year.

"Isn't this nice? Just the two of us eating lunch together…just like how we did back in middle school. Do you remember, President?"

"Mhmm…" Mei responded absentmindedly, not paying attention to the girl's words. She was currently too busy trying to figure out how to improve the cafeteria food without cutting any of the Student Council's other initiatives for the year or going over budget. Maybe she would just have to reallocate some funds from another department, but which one…

"U-um…Excuse me…"

The new voice instantly caught Mei's attention as she snapped her eyes towards the source, finding herself staring straight into the most vibrant green eyes she had ever seen. Feeling her pulse unintentionally quicken as she became lost in those eyes, she hastily averted her own in order to take in the rest of the girl's appearance.

Thanks to years of practice, Mei was able to maintain her expression of indifference as she let her eyes freely wander over the rest of the girl's body. Her hair was clearly dyed to be that shade of blonde, but the color went well with the large, silver hooped earrings she was wearing. Her school tie was nowhere to be found, having been replaced by an unorthodox red bowtie. The top of her collar was left open, providing Mei an unobstructed view of the girl's neck and collarbones, where her eyes may have lingered just a second too long.

Placing her hands on the table, Mei gracefully pushed herself to her feet. Satisfied to see that she was slightly taller than her new acquaintance, she locked eyes with the girl once more. Instantly noticing the soft blush that spread on the girl's cheeks and neck, Mei took the opportunity to slowly take in her appearance once more. From this angle, she had a much better view of the girl's exposed skin...

"May I help you?" she inquired politely, wishing to give the girl a chance to speak before she would address the obvious dress code violations.

"W-well," the girl stuttered, turning her gorgeous green eyes towards the ground nervously. "M-my friend said…that you two always sit by yourselves like this…" a new round of flushing began as the girl looked at Mei for a half second before turning away again. "I thought…that, maybe, you'd like to join us…

A loud scoff from Mei's side caused her to twitch imperceptibly as she turned to find Himeko now standing beside her, hands crossed over her chest. Mei tried to push down the small amount of irritation she felt rising towards her second in command. When would Himeko learn that Mei was more than capable of handling these situations on her own?

"Why would the _President_ _of the Student Council_ want to be seen sharing a table with someone who clearly can't follow the dress code…OR her no good troublemaker of a friend?" Himeko asked condescendingly.

Mei gave Himeko a small glare, causing her to instantly back down, bowing her head slightly in apology. Turning back towards the blonde girl, Mei was disappointed to see that the girl was now hesitantly backpedaling away from the Student Council members.

"I-I'm really sorry to interrupt," the girl said regretfully, sending Mei an apologetic smile that pulled slightly at something deep within her. "Please enjoy your lunch," she concluded with a tiny bow, turning to walk back towards the other side of the room.

Before Mei even realized what she was doing, she had reached out and grabbed one of the girl's hands in her own. It turned out to work very effectively, stopping the girl in her tracks as she turned around, looking curiously between Mei and their interlocked hands as a blush once again lit up her lovely features.

Dropping the girl's hand as if it were a burning ember, Mei cleared her throat as she attempted to still her rapidly beating heart, frustrated with herself for having done something like that in public.

"Thank you for your invitation, but we respectfully decline," she said courteously. She gave a small smile, which had the unintended effect of causing the girl beam back at her.

Mei couldn't help but to turn away from that blinding smile. It was too bright, too naïve, too _pure_ to view directly. It was the type of adoring smile that made Mei feel like she was a _good_ person, which she knew for a fact that she was not.

Briefly closing her eyes to refocus her feelings, Mei then turned back towards the girl with a stern expression set on her face.

"And make sure that you are following _all_ of the dress code rules tomorrow."

If Mei was a more expressive person, she would have cringed at the sight of the girl's smile disappearing in an instant as it did. Turning back to the table, she carefully picked up her tray of uneaten food and began walking towards the cafeteria door.

"I'll finish lunch in the Student Council room," she said emotionlessly to Himeko without turning back, knowing that the drill haired girl would quickly follow her.

Nearing the open door leading out into the hallway, she heard Himeko catch up to her, clutching her own tray of food in her hands. As they turned to walk down the hallway, Mei snuck a quick glance back into the cafeteria. She immediately located the blonde haired girl, who was now sitting rather dejectedly back at her table, poking at her food. A brunette seated across from the girl seemed to be laughing too much to eat anything at that moment, either.

Turning her attention back towards the hallway as they walked towards their destination, Mei asked, as nonchalantly as possible, "Himeko, do you know who that girl was?"

Himeko, thankfully, didn't seem to notice anything suspicious about the question as she dutifully answered.

"A new transfer student. Yu-something. Yumi? Yumu?"

Mei suddenly found it somewhat difficult to hear over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

"…Yuzu?" she managed to ask quietly, never breaking stride with her Vice President.

"Yes, that's it!" Himeko exclaimed, happy to have remembered the girl's name, in order to better scold the girl later.

Mei took another calming breath as she opened the door to the Student Council room and walked over to sit down at her desk. She stared at the papers in front of her for a long moment, not truly seeing the words that were written there.

Aihara Yuzu…

Shaking her head in an attempt to remove the affectionate smile and sparkling eyes from her memory, Mei picked up a pen to begin filling in the forms in front of her.

_Yuzu…_she thought to herself as her pen moved steadily across the page, a slight smile unconsciously sneaking on to her face. _I will see you again sooner than you know._


	8. The Perfect Gift

**Another random idea...since I just read the latest chapter and am now sad that I have to wait another two months for the next one...ugh. Hopefully this will help some of you survive the two months drought, as well! Please read and review if you enjoy it :) Until next time!**

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><p>Mei frowned as she peered into the display case in front of her. Too flashy…too boring…too expensive…none of the necklaces stood out to her in any way. At least, none of them screamed "I'm perfect!" at her like she was expecting.<p>

"Wow, I never took you for a jewelry person, Prez!"

Immediately straightening, Mei turned to face the voice. She was surprised to find Yuzu's friend, Harumin, standing behind her. The sly grin on her face made Mei scowl instantly.

"Well, you don't know anything about me," she replied curtly before turning to walk out of the store and back into the corridor of the shopping center. Harumin obliviously followed her out, causing Mei to grit her teeth in agitation. Apparently, the girl didn't understand when she was unwelcome.

"I know more about you than you think!"

Mei stopped walking and faced the girl, who was still wearing that stupid grin on her face. She scowled. Yuzu couldn't possibly have told her…could she? She shook her head slightly; Yuzu wouldn't have told Harumin _everything_, at least, but it was annoying to think that this girl might know personal things about her.

Turning away, she started walking again, hoping that the pest would get the hint and leave her alone. Unfortunately for her, Harumin seemed to have the people skills of a gnat on a hot day, trailing Mei as they walked through the mall.

Mei tried to ignore her, looking closely at each store they passed to see if an idea popped into her head, but Harumin's constant presence combined with her own lack of ingenuity quickly wore down her nerves.

She spun on her heel, causing Harumin to nearly crash into her.

"Is there _something_ I can help you with?" she tried to say politely, but it came out much more venomous than she had intended.

Harumin just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, not noticing the tone at all.

"Naw, I'm just hanging out until my sister goes out to dinner with a friend." She finished her sentence with a grin that made Mei huff audibly before she spun around and stalked off, this time at a much quicker pace.

They continued through the mall for several more minutes, Mei pausing every so often to peer into one of the stores, but never entering. She did her best to ignore Harumin's constant commentary about her favorite stores and which shops were having sales on which days. The girl apparently spent a _lot_ of time here.

Eventually, Mei came to a stop outside a specialty chocolatier shop. Harumin stood beside her as they gazed at the array of fine chocolates gracing the windows. Chocolate dipped strawberries, truffles, white chocolate bars, fudge…any kind of fine, homemade chocolate could be found in this store.

Mei carefully considered the display in front of her. Was it good enough? Was it special enough? Maybe an assortment of fancy truffles…

"She likes white chocolate, you know," Harumin suddenly remarked, cutting in to Mei's thoughts.

Mei spun towards her, eyebrows knitting together as confusion filled her. She hadn't mentioned _anything_ about Yuzu, so how did…

"It's her birthday tomorrow," Harumin remarked matter-of-factly in response to Mei's expression, rolling her eyes slightly. "So of course you're shopping for her."

Realizing that her jaw was hanging slightly open, Mei snapped it shut before turning back towards the window, choosing to ignore Harumin's comment completely.

"She likes the milk chocolate caramels the best though," she replied haughtily before dismissing the idea and turning away from the storefront.

"I guess you would know, huh," she heard Harumin mutter under her breath as they walked away.

It was rather useless to try to accomplish anything with Harumin tagging along, Mei finally decided. She began making her way towards the exit with the girl still on her heels, feeling more than a little disappointed in her gift giving capabilities.

Here she had been trying to find something nice and special for Yuzu's birthday, but she couldn't even accomplish that one small task. She was such a failure as a sister.

"You know," Harumin began as Mei graciously held the door to the building open for her to walk through, "you could write 'you're an idiot' on a piece of paper and she would still love it. She adores you."

Mei stared at the girl blankly as she processed Harumin's words.

Yuzu adored her?

"Thank you for your assistance today," she replied cordially as they prepared to go their separate ways. At least Harumin had been partially helpful in giving Mei a starting point for a gift.

Waving her hand, Harumin gave her a big smile.

"No problem, Prez! Maybe you'll give me less cleaning duty next time I get in trouble?"

Mei frowned as Harumin chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, didn't think so," she said jovially before her expression became slightly more serious.

"Just…make sure you think of something better than that Matsuri girl can come up with, k?"

Mei instantly felt her lip curl in a snarl at the mention of that miscreant's name, but she nodded anyway. Yes, she needed something that would completely outshine whatever inappropriate gift Matsuri would come up with.

As Mei walked home, she was able to come up with the final details to her gift idea. It was unconventional, but she felt that Yuzu would love it more than any of the things she had looked at in the stores today.

The next morning, Mei got up early, as usual, and finished getting ready for school. However, instead of leaving as she usually did, she went back to her room.

Yuzu was still asleep, of course, snuggled under a mess of tangled covers. Whenever Mei got out of bed in the morning, Yuzu immediately dragged all of the covers over to her side and twirled herself up in them. For the life of her, Mei could not figure out why.

Mei sat down and watched the girl sleeping peacefully. Yuzu looked so calm and…angelic…when she was sleeping. It was a stark contrast to the vibrant attitude she emanated while awake, but Mei had discovered that she was quite fond of both personas. This one was just slightly easier to deal with.

Just as Mei began thinking that she might have to wake Yuzu up or they would both be late for school, the blonde began to shift around slightly. Mei watched the cute wiggles and sighs in rapt attention until those green eyes finally opened. Instantaneously locked on to her own, Mei was forced to look away and curse herself for being caught staring.

"Good morning, Mei!" Yuzu said with a yawn as she sat up in bed, stretching her arms above her head while the covers fell around her.

"Good morning, Yuzu," Mei replied in a low voice, trying not to stare at the girl as she stretched.

"Happy birthday."

She extended a small, rectangular box towards her half-sister as she moved to sit closer to her, anxious for Yuzu to open it. She had diligently wrapped it with blue wrapping paper and tied a matching blue ribbon around it this morning. Mei could feel her nerves tingling slightly in anticipation as Yuzu took the gift in her hands, giving Mei a huge smile.

"Thank you, Mei!" she said giddily as she leaned forward to give Mei a quick hug. "You didn't have to get me anything, though…"

"I know, but I wanted to," Mei replied honestly, already missing the feeling of Yuzu holding on to her. "Open it."

Yuzu did as she was told and carefully pulled the ribbon, holding the present in her hands as if it were a piece of gold she was afraid would disappear if she touched it too harshly. Pulling off the ribbon and paper, she held the small, white box in her hands. She removed the lid slowly, before picking up small square of paper tucked inside.

"Look up?" she said quizzically, as she unintentionally did as the note instructed and looked up at Mei for clarification.

As soon as Mei could see Yuzu's gorgeous green eyes looking into hers, she leaned forward and took Yuzu's lips with her own. She heard the small 'eep' of surprise, but Mei didn't pull back. She already had her hands running through Yuzu's hair, still slightly messy from having just woken up. She could feel her desire building as Yuzu finally started kissing back, even more passionately than before.

As with the last few times they kissed, Mei quickly found herself becoming overwhelmed by the sensation; the feel of Yuzu's soft lips moving against her own, her silky hair, her hands grasping at Mei's neck, the quiet moans of pleasure she made, the smell of her shampoo…with each passing second, Mei was becoming more and more worried that she might not ever be able to stop kissing this girl.

After several more seconds, she finally managed to pry herself away, even though her body was screaming at her to keep going. Yuzu turned pink as they both stared at each other, breathing heavily to recoup some of the air they had just foregone as they had been lost in each other.

Yuzu was blushing furiously, but radiating with happiness; Mei felt the need to look away as the tips of her ears began to feel hotter. Mei had never had anyone who so desperately enjoyed kissing her as much as Yuzu did.

Finally, her rational thoughts returned to her and she was able to stand from the bed.

"Hurry or we'll be late," she spoke clearly as she left the room to wait for Yuzu in the kitchen. Thankfully, her voice betrayed none of the turbulent emotions she felt swirling through her mind from the kiss.

Several minutes later, they were on their way to school, a stupid smile still plastered on Yuzu's face as she hummed happily to herself. Mei couldn't help feeling satisfied that her 'present' had been so well received. It had certainly been a pleasure to give, as well…

Outside of the school gates, Mei noticed Harumin waiting on the sidewalk to meet them. Yuzu saw the girl at nearly the same time and set off at a run to meet her friend.

"Harumin!" Yuzu cried happily as she basically leapt into the girl's waiting arms.

"Yuzu! Happy birthday!" Harumin replied as she wrapped the birthday girl in a firm hug, smiling at Mei over Yuzu's shoulder.

"I hope you got some good gifts already?" Harumin asked, grinning at Mei mischievously as she held her friend out at arm's length.

"Yes! Mei gave me the _best _present ever this morning!" Yuzu said happily, blushing again as she thought of her gift.

"Really? What was it?" Harumin asked curiously.

"Uh…well…i-it was…" Yuzu stuttered, as she turned back to Mei for help.

"I took your advice and gave her a piece of paper," Mei said coolly as she walked past the two to join the rest of the Student Council members in performing the morning checks.

Harumin sniggered and gave Mei a thumbs up as Mei finally turned away from them. She ignored the gesture as she continued walking, already replaying this morning in her head.

Maybe she could give Yuzu _two_ gifts this year…


	9. Hot Pink

**Just a small trifle...someone (a long time ago) had asked for embarrassed Mei. I don't know that she would actually be embarrassed all too often, but maybe this would do the trick! **

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><p>Mei woke up, slowly blinking the sleep out of her eyes as she regained consciousness. Feeling a weight pressing on her chest, she looked down to find Yuzu's arm draped across her. Sighing, she carefully removed Yuzu's arm before she sat up, searching for the clock in the dark room.<p>

Finally finding it, her eyes widened in shock when she read the time. She had overslept! This had never happened to her before. Why hadn't her alarm gone off? And why was it so dark in here?

She grabbed her cell phone off of the bedside table, discovering that the battery had died. No wonder her alarm hadn't gone off; she had forgotten to plug it in to charge last night. The window shades were also drawn, preventing any of the weak morning sun from entering their room.

She had been in such a hurry to get to bed…

She tossed the inoperable piece of technology down on the bed. It would be of no use to her today.

As she walked carefully over to the opposite side of their shared bed, she nearly tripped in the darkness over piled of discarded clothing lying on the ground. She cursed lightly at them before she knelt down by Yuzu's side. Tenderly, she shook the girl's shoulder, waking her only slightly.

"Yuzu…" she said firmly, "You're going to be late if you don't get up _right now._"

The blonde hardly stirred, mumbling something about "five more minutes" as she pulled the covers up over her head.

The past few months had taught Mei that she shouldn't waste her time trying to rouse the girl; all she could do was hope that her step-sister made it to school before first period on her own. It made no sense for _both_ of them to be late today, that would only look more suspicious.

Rushing into the bathroom, Mei got ready in record time. As she ran back into her room, she quickly grabbed some clean clothing from the dresser and expertly dressed in the dark. Seconds later, she was out the door and on her way to school.

Luckily, Mei was able to make it to homeroom just in time, slipping into her seat right as the bell rang. She ignored Himeko's questioning gaze, calmly pulling out her notebook as if this were the most normal occurrence in the world.

Yuzu showed up midway through homeroom, rushing in disheveled and out of breath. Mei couldn't help throwing a little smirk the girl's way as Yuzu slunk into her seat after their teacher scolded her. If only she had gotten up when Mei had tried to wake her…

After the bell rang, Mei collected her belongings and made her way to P.E. with the rest of her class. As they shuffled into the locker room to change, she listened to the trivial gossip that seemed to consume the lives of her classmates. While she never partook in the sharing of information, she always listened intently. As the Student Council President, it was vital that she know what was happening around the school, after all.

Casually stripping out of her school uniform, she suddenly became aware of a weird energy falling over the room. The voices lowered to whispers and movements seemed to still nearby. As Mei glanced curiously to her right, she realized that the girls standing next to her hastily averted their eyes.

"Himeko," she began in a low voice as she slipped her gym shirt over her head, "What are people…"

She stopped speaking as she turned to find her friend looking pointedly away from her, face scarlet as a tomato.

"I-I think…they're looking at…y-you, Mei…" Himeko stuttered out, still avoiding eye contact as she shut the door to her locker.

"Me?" Mei asked dubiously. Looking around the room, she found that every girl there _did_ seem to be either staring at her or carefully avoiding eye contact. Her eyes finally found Yuzu, but she was surprised to find the blonde staring at the ground as her friend, Harumin, openly giggled behind her hand.

Looking down at herself, Mei felt her cheeks begin burning as she finally figured out why she had everyone's attention.

In her haste this morning, Mei had accidentally pulled on a pair of Yuzu's underwear.

She instantly recognized the hot pink panties. She didn't have to turn around to know that it read 'Bootylicious' in large black letters across her butt.

She pulled on her gym shorts in a rush and slammed her locker door shut. Glancing towards the clock on the wall, she said, "Class begins in two minutes."

Her authoritative tone immediately knocked everyone out of their trance as they quickly exited the locker room, not wanting to risk Mei's anger.

For once, Himeko didn't hang back with Mei, but instead rushed out with the rest of the class, the tips of her ears still slightly pink.

As a hand landed on her shoulder, Mei turned to find Harumin standing exceptionally close to her. The brunette leaned in and whispered, "I saw Yuzu wearing those last week," before pulling away, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as she sauntered out.

Mei scowled at the girl's back, feeling anger boil within her as she wondered what Harumin could have been doing that had allowed her to see Yuzu's underwear.

Feeling a pair of eyes upon her, Mei turned around, instantly feeling her anger disappear as she recognized the lustful look in the blonde's eyes. That same look was what had caused this entire thing to happen, as the two girls had spent very little time actually sleeping last night.

Mei could sense her predatory side taking over as she stared at Yuzu, feeling all of her embarrassment fade away as she slowly approached her prey. The closer Mei came, the more flustered Yuzu became. Internally, she said thanks for the girl's inability to hide her emotions.

Standing with their noses nearly touching, Mei could feel Yuzu's warm breathing sweeping across her lips. The effect was intoxicating, causing Mei to nearly lose focus as she thought about how easy it would be to let her lips travel the last few millimeters separating them.

Licking her lips, Mei spoke calmly.

"Yuzu…"

Oh how she loved the way Yuzu drew in her breath whenever she spoke her name aloud…

"I believe I have something of yours…"

Yuzu swallowed visibly before responding.

"Y-yes…I think you do…"

Yuzu yelped in surprise as Mei unexpectedly grabbed the blonde by both shoulders, pulling her forward so that Mei's lips were brushing against the girl's ear as she whispered,

"I'd like to return them to you."

She pulled away to witness Yuzu attempt her best goldfish impression, mouth opening and closing in shock.

"N-now?" she asked incredulously, her eyes rapidly scanning the empty locker room as if considering whether they could get away with it or not.

Mei smiled smugly at her reaction.

"The office. After school," she remarked, watching in satisfaction as Yuzu's face turned a lovely shade of red.

Pleased that she had successfully snared her prey, she turned on her heel and walked out of the locker room, a smirk gracing her lips.

She was going to very much enjoy her victim later today.


	10. Can't I See That Smile?

**Someone requested jealous Yuzu, so I tried my best to oblige! Of course, they suggested that Himeko would be the most likely cause of Yuzu's jealousy, so I consciously decided NOT to write with Himeko. lol just to make my life harder, I suppose. (and it was hard!) I think that the end result is...interesting. Hopefully, it's somewhat enjoyable though as we wait for the next chapter to come out!**

Yuzu hummed to herself as she sprayed disinfectant on top of a desk and diligently wiped it clean with the rag she was holding.

She had gotten stuck with cleaning duty once again, but it wasn't such a bad thing today. Thankfully, there wasn't much cleaning to be done. Just wiping off the desks, cleaning the board, and watering the plants. Then she'd be free!

Harumin had even said that she would wait outside for Yuzu to finish so they could walk home together. Her friend had offered to help, but their teacher had said that this was Yuzu's punishment, and hers alone.

Continuing her tune, she moved on to the last row of desks, repeating her process once again.

Glancing outside of the second story window, she found Harumin standing nearby, texting on her phone while waiting for Yuzu to finish up. Her friend didn't seem to be too impatient though, as she was leaning casually against a small fence, happily texting away with whatever boy held her fancy that week.

Looking elsewhere, Yuzu's heart skipped a beat as her eyes fell upon her step-sister/Student Council President, Mei.

Mei had a stern look upon her face, as usual, as she was walking directly towards Harumin. Yuzu felt a frown edge onto her face.

Mei wasn't going to get Harumin in trouble for texting _after_ school, was she? She guessed that it wouldn't actually be that surprising, since Mei was such a stickler for school rules.

Absentmindedly moving to the next desk, Yuzu intently watched the situation unfold beneath her, unbeknownst to the girls outside.

Harumin looked up and immediately dropped her hands to her side when she noticed Mei approaching her. Stalking straight up to Yuzu's friend, Mei seemed serious as she began speaking to her, but after a few tense seconds, it didn't look like Harumin was in much trouble, if any at all.

Yuzu sighed in relief. She didn't want to spend another walk home complaining about her step-sister with her best friend.

Finishing the last desk, she collected the watering can and filled it with water from the hallway fountain. Returning to the window, she began watering the line of small potted plants that had been placed there to receive the best sunlight.

Glancing outside once more, surprise filled her as she noticed that Harumin and Mei were still talking, and quite amicably so. She froze, mind going into overdrive at what she was witnessing.

Mei was _genuinely_…smiling.

Suddenly realizing that she was drowning the current plant under her unwatchful care, she quickly stepped to the next one, tearing her eyes off of Mei for no longer than a half a second.

What were they talking about? Why did Mei look so…happy?

And then…it happened. Something so unexpected, Yuzu nearly dropped the watering can from her hands.

Harumin was explaining something quite cheerfully, gesturing excitedly with her hands, and then…Mei laughed.

Well…it was more of a refined giggle that she politely hid behind her hand, but it was still a type of laugh that Yuzu had never seen before.

She watched in rapt amazement. Mei was so stunningly beautiful when she lost the stern scowl that was normally adorning her face; Yuzu felt herself fall for the girl all over again as she tried to commit the sight to memory.

An unfamiliar feeling began to prickle at her skin as she continued watching the girls carefully, steadily moving down the line of plants. She looked away hastily as the two girls laughed once more, with Harumin nearly dissolving into giggles this time. She felt her heart begin pounding at the sight as she suddenly felt slightly sick to her stomach.

What could Harumin possibly be saying to make Mei so happy? Why was it that she could never make Mei laugh like that?

The feeling grew and grew with each passing second as she finally finished watering all of the plants in the classroom. She hadn't been in a rush to finish quickly before, but she certainly was now as she turned her attention to cleaning the boards at the front of the room.

What did Harumin have that Yuzu didn't?

Sure…Harumin was very pretty. Gregarious, friendly, sought-after…she could hide _anything_ in her cleavage…but what drew Mei to her over Yuzu?

And Harumin was _clearly_ straight…wasn't she?

Finishing the boards in record time, Yuzu threw the cleaning supplies back in the basket as she collected her bag and raced out of the room. She would likely be scolded tomorrow for her second-rate cleaning effort, but she really didn't care about that right now.

All she cared about was finding out what those two were talking about.

"What did she say?" Mei asked curiously, struggling to keep a grin from reappearing on her face as Harumin continued her story.

"She said…" Harumin paused to collect herself as she began laughing at the memory. "She said…'This is actually my son'!"

Mei let out a small snort of amusement as Harumin broke down into giggles in front of her.

"And what did Yuzu do then?"

"Well…this is Yuzu we're talking about, so…she just turned around and ran out the door without saying another word!" Harumin dissolved into more laughter, clutching her sides in apparent pain. "I…I just chased after her! I didn't know what else to do!"

Mei smiled as she shook her head at the conclusion of the story.

"That definitely sounds like Yuzu…" she commented, being somewhat affectionate of her step-sister's propensity to get herself into uncomfortable situations. Yuzu's ways of getting herself _out _of those situations were…less than graceful.

At that moment, Mei noticed their topic of conversation step out of the school building, heading hastily towards them with a small wave.

She instantly forced her smile to fall from her face, replaced by the most normal expression she could muster at the moment. Her calm exterior needed to mask the turmoil she felt inside at the sight of the blonde girl striding towards them. Mei could already feel her heart beating a little too rapidly as Yuzu's blonde locks blew lightly in the wind, causing the girl to unconsciously brush them over her shoulder.

"Yuzu!" Harumin squealed in happiness, running over and crushing Yuzu in a gigantic hug. Mei felt her lips tug down at the unnecessary contact between the two friends. They had only been separated for a thirty minutes…not thirty years.

"H-hey, Harumin," Yuzu replied, looking towards Mei, eyes wide with confusion. "It's…good to see you too…I'm sorry that I took so long."

"You didn't take long at all," Mei replied. "In fact, I'm wondering if you did a very thorough job at all…"

Yuzu's face immediately turned red, giving Mei the answer she was looking for. She sighed, but decided to let it go for now. Her step-sister would just be paying for it again tomorrow.

"It wasn't very long, but I _missed_ you!" Harumin squealed, finally breaking out of the hug.

Mei couldn't help rolling her eyes at the girl's exaggeration. Was it even possible to miss someone when they had been gone for less than thirty minutes?

But Yuzu only giggled at the embellishment, adding to Mei's steadily increasing level of irritation.

"Well, now that _fate_ has brought you two back together, I suppose that we can finally head home."

Both girls laughed at Mei's use of the word 'fate,' but fell in line beside her as they began their walk to the train station.

"S-so…what were you guys talking about?" Yuzu hesitantly asked, throwing a quick glace towards Mei.

"School policies," she answered quickly. Internally, she cringed at her impulsive lie, but she couldn't tell Yuzu that they had actually been talking about her. Plus, school policy seemed like a vaguely reasonable answer; at least, in Harumin's case it was.

"Uh, yup! Good 'ol school policies! Gotta love them – super strict dress code, no texting, no running, no having fun..." Harumin responded, happily listing off all of the rules she disliked.

Mei sent her a disapproving glare, but the girl just grinned and winked in response. She couldn't help sighing. Of all the people she would become an accomplice in a lie with…Harumin had probably not been the best choice.

"Oh…"

Yuzu's one syllable answer caused Mei to look towards her in concern. Her step-sister's downcast expression filled Mei with guilt for having told a lie. Harumin immediately noticed the change in attitude and shook her head slowly in disappointment.

"Hey, Yuzu, why don't we go shopping? That new store just opened up and they're probably having some awesome sales!" Harumin bounced up and down in front of them in order to show her excitement.

Yuzu cheered up for a few seconds, before she glanced towards Mei and sighed.

"We can't, remember? Against school rules."

"Ah right!" Harumin exclaimed, slapping her head lightly. "How could I have forgotten our conversation so quickly?"

Mei scowled at her, daring the brunette to continue.

"But…I think that Mei might make an exception today, right Mei?" Harumin looked at her pointedly, and Mei quickly understood what she was getting at. Mei would allow their rule breaking today, and Harumin wouldn't rat out her lie to Yuzu.

She really hated being blackmailed, but what was she supposed to do? Yuzu was already having a hard enough time just being 'sisters' as it was. The last thing Mei wanted to do was add fuel to the fire by having her find out that Mei had been prying amusing stories about her out of her best friend.

"I guess we could make a quick stop…" Mei replied with a sigh, frowning as Harumin winked at her again.

"You…you want to go too, Mei?" Yuzu asked incredulously.

Mei was about to scoff at the question until she noticed the wounded look in Yuzu's eyes.

She blinked, the only visible signal of her own bewilderment.

"I will…if you…want me to?"

She hated that it came out as a question, but it was unlike Yuzu to not be pleading for Mei to accompany her.

Mei's confusion only grew as Yuzu merely nodded silently in response before turning her eyes back towards the ground. Apparently, that had been the wrong answer…but why? Didn't Yuzu want to be around her?

"Alright! Me and Yuzu…plus the President…goin' shoppin'!" Harumin commented aimlessly as they entered the station together.

Jealousy surged within her as Harumin's statement finally brought the real issue into focus. She was the third wheel, raining on Yuzu and Harumin's shopping parade. Apparently, there were actually some activities that Yuzu preferred to do with her best friend, alone. And shopping must be one of them.

It made sense…the brunette was practically a professional shopper. That and she was witty, humorous, and…Yuzu actually had _fun_ when she was around Harumin. As opposed to Mei, who was pretty sure that she spent most of her time scolding her step-sister, or actively giving her the silent treatment.

"Actually…I have a lot of Student Council work to get done this evening…you two go ahead though," Mei stated as she abruptly changed directions and began making her way to the concourse that would take her directly home.

"Yuzu…I'll see you at dinner. Don't be late."

Turning back one last time, Mei felt her heart drop when she found that Yuzu looked almost…relieved…to see her go. She tried to forget the image as she walked away from the two friends, finding a small amount of solace as Harumin's excited chatter gave way to the bustle of the station.

Now she understood how it was possible to miss someone when you had just goodbye.


	11. Caught

**Ok, people (and by people, I mean like two people) kept asking me for a Citrus fic on tumblr...and so I felt compelled to write something, anything, to make them happy! I hope that this is enjoyable to everyone, including those who weren't requesting anything at all. **

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><p>"Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't give you two detention for the <em>rest<em> of the year."

The two girls standing in front of her cowered under her withering gaze, each avoiding meeting Mei's eyes.

Once again, Harumin and Yuzu had managed to come up with an ill-advised idea. And, once again, they had been caught red-handed.

Normally, Mei would just give the two detention for a week while feeling annoyed and frustrated with Yuzu's lack of sensible decision making. But this time…she was _mad_.

She had just caught the pair had been trying to sneak into one of the locker rooms after school. On any ordinary day, this wouldn't have been a big issue at all, but on this particular day, their school was hosting a large annual basketball tournament in their massive gymnasiums…a _boys'_ basketball tournament.

The event was especially popular with all of the girls at their school and many of them had stayed for the games. Of course, they were in the gyms _watching _the games, as they should be. Mei had been walking through the hallways on her way back to the Student Council room when she had stepped around the corner just as Harumin had ducked her head inside the locker room, with Yuzu failing at her job as watchdog outside.

For some reason, this offense seemed to be so much worse than all of the others. Sneaking a phone into school, refusing to follow the dress code, running in the hallways…those were all somewhat innocent transgressions. But this? This one was unacceptable.

Mei couldn't even understand what possible reason _Yuzu, _of all people, could have for wanting to be in a boy's locker room. The girl was straight as the letter 's.'

Still, regardless of what Mei knew to be true, the thought of Yuzu sneaking in to peek at some _boys_ after a basketball game infuriated her to no end.

So here they stood in the hallway, Mei glowering at two girls who looked like they wanted to melt into puddles on the floor.

"Well?" she demanded again when neither of them had spoken up to answer her first question.

"We were just…" Harumin began before Mei silenced her with a glare.

"I want to hear _Yuzu's _explanation," she said vehemently, turning her full attention towards the blonde.

Yuzu scuffed her sneaker against the ground, refusing to look up and meet Mei's gaze.

"Uh…well…we just wanted to see what a boy's locker room looked like…" Yuzu responded quietly.

"_Both_ of you decided to do this?" Mei prodded.

It didn't seem like a thought that should pop into Yuzu's head at any particular moment. It would be one thing if Harumin had dragged Yuzu into this – the troublemaker often convinced Yuzu to do things she otherwise wouldn't have thought to do - but if they had both come up with the idea…

Yuzu's tiny nod was all the answer Mei needed. She felt the rage she had initially held at bay flooding through her system. Her fists clenched tightly – fingernails digging into the palms of her hands – while she gritted her jaw together tightly.

"And you were aware that this team just finished a game," Mei hissed at the blonde with barely controlled anger, jabbing one finger towards the school's name posted on the door. She wanted to tell Yuzu how she _truly_ felt about this matter, but wasn't able to so with Harumin standing right there.

However, at Mei's words Yuzu snapped her head up, wide eyes full of shock at what Mei had just said.

"T-there are boys _in_ there right now?" the blonde squeaked.

The sound of laughter drew both of their eyes, Mei's a menacing glare while Yuzu just looked startled and dismayed. Seeing their gazes upon her, Harumin just shrugged her shoulders with a light chuckle.

"Hey, I just thought it might be a good opportunity for Yuzu to meet some cute boys," Harumin responded casually, but her eyes were saying something else entirely…they sparked towards Mei in…was it a challenge? A dare?

Whatever it was, it caused a crack to appear in Mei's fastidiously maintained composure. She spun angrily to face Harumin head on, fuming at the girl's audacity to try to set Yuzu up with any boy.

"And _what_ made you think that that was even _necessary_," Mei hissed, voice low and deadly. She was attempting to maintain her self-control, but she could feel herself slipping into a jealous rage.

But before Harumin had an opportunity to respond, Mei felt a hand grasp onto her arm and turn her away from the enraging girl.

"Mei…" Yuzu said carefully. "We didn't even make it inside, so it's not like we saw anything. And we're sorry; we won't try anything like it again."

The blonde gave a small smile at the end of her apology, her sincerity shining through. Mei knew that Yuzu couldn't actually speak for Harumin, but her words were good enough to alleviate a large portion of Mei's anger.

_Yuzu_ was sorry…and _Yuzu_ wouldn't trying anything like it again.

Mei wasn't a very trusting person, but…she knew that she could trust those words.

She took a deep breath before turning back towards Harumin, feeling Yuzu's hand slide off of her arm.

"Detention for a week…both of you," she said sternly, knowing that it wouldn't be much of a punishment at all to force the two friends to spend more time together.

"And if you're going to watch the games, I suggest you go to the gymnasium right now. Otherwise, it's time to go home," she finished.

Harumin and Yuzu glanced quickly at each other – likely surprised by the lean sentence they had just been handed.

"Yuzu, want to go watch the games with me?" Harumin finally asked. Mei felt her anger instantly flare up when Harumin steadily regarded her with that same expression on her face – daring Mei to speak up.

And ordinarily Mei wouldn't have said anything, but this was different.

"Yuzu is coming home with me," Mei responded flatly, trying her hardest to ignore the small, knowing smirk that lighted upon Harumin's lips. "Come on, Yuzu."

She spun on her heel and headed back towards the Student Council room to collect her belongings, knowing that Yuzu would follow her. She heard Yuzu utter a rushed goodbye to her friend before footsteps hurried down the hall to catch up.

Mei didn't slow down and didn't look at Yuzu when the blonde fell into step by her side. She could still feel herself simmering with fury that hadn't quite yet vacated her body. Control was quickly beginning to slip from her grasp – but she needed to hold it together for just a few moments longer.

Reaching the Student Council room, Mei ripped open the door and gestured for Yuzu to head inside. Mei stepped into the room after the girl, pulling the door shut with a loud bang in her haste.

Yuzu jumped at the sound and began turning around, only to find that Mei had already closed the space between them.

Finally free to let go, to lose control of her carefully maintained emotions, Mei grabbed ahold of Yuzu by the front of the girl's untidy uniform and pulled her roughly forward into a kiss.

It was sloppy, greedy…possessive. All qualities that Mei usually tried to exclude from her kisses with Yuzu, but this time was the exception. She didn't want the blonde to feel as if Mei owned her in any sense - like someone might possess a mere item. It wasn't like that at all.

But she needed Yuzu to know…she needed Yuzu to know how she felt about what had just transpired. And since Mei was usually not good at describing her feelings in words, this would have to do.

Yuzu needed to know…that Mei had fought hard for her. Against many of her own demons…some of which she still continued to fight on a daily basis…but regardless, it hadn't exactly been _easy_ for the two of them to finally come together. So maybe it was entirely greedy, and possessive, and jealous, but…Mei didn't want Yuzu looking _at_ anyone else or _for_ anyone else.

She wanted Yuzu to be hers…and hers alone.

Finally releasing Yuzu after several more seconds of hungry kisses, Mei was pleased to see the slight shade of red dusting the girl's cheeks – even though she knew she was probably wearing a matching blush herself. The two of them remained standing close together, their faces mere inches apart.

"I'm sorry, Mei," Yuzu whispered quietly, tilting her head forward slightly as she looked back at the ground in guilt.

But all of the anger had left Mei by this time, leaving nothing but the raw feeling of her desire and love for the girl standing in front of her.

She ran one hand gently across Yuzu's cheek before lightly brushing several strands of hair behind the blonde's ear. Leaning forward, she placed a soft kiss on Yuzu's forehead.

It was uncharacteristic for her to display these types of emotions, but she had found herself able to slip them in at times when they were most needed. And while they still felt awkward and uncomfortable to her, they always seemed to put Yuzu at ease.

Such was the case at this moment, as Yuzu sighed and leaning her cheek into Mei's hand.

"I really didn't know anyone would be in there…" Yuzu continued her apology, even though no more explanation was needed at this point. Mei finally understood what was going on.

"Harumin wants you to tell her that you're seeing someone."

Yuzu's head instantly snapped up, shocked eyes intently searching Mei's.

"W-what? Why?" the blonde asked.

Mei regarded the girl carefully as her theory began to fall into place.

"She must sense that you've been seeing someone and haven't told her about it, so she's trying to put you in situations where you would be forced to tell her."

Mei nodded at the end of her words, satisfied that she had finally pinpointed what was going on.

"So what do we do? Do we tell her?" Yuzu asked anxiously, one hand reach up to nervously fiddle with the ends of a strand of hair.

The two of them had agreed to keep their relationship a secret from everyone they knew, for obvious reasons. And while Yuzu had sworn that Harumin would be ok with the information and could keep it a secret, Mei had insisted that no one know. At least, not now.

"I think…you should tell her you are seeing _someone_, but don't tell her who…" Mei responded thoughtfully, a plan beginning to emerge.

Yuzu nodded her head in agreement, but worry still creased her brow.

"Ok…I can do that…but what if she really wants to know who it is?" the blonde asked curiously.

"If you say that the person you're seeing wants to keep it a secret, she won't press you. Trust me," Mei responded confidently, reaching out to grasp both of Yuzu's hands in her own in an attempt to ease the blonde's worry.

She didn't feel the need to mention that Harumin undoubtedly already knew who it was Yuzu was dating.


	12. Apology

**Oh Chapter 13 agony...how you tear my heart in two...**

**But...hopefully this will make some people feel better. I feel slightly better after writing it! Enjoy :)**

* * *

><p>Yuzu flopped down sprawled eagle on the bed after changing into her pajamas and let out a long, content sigh.<p>

"Now _that_ was a good bath."

Mei couldn't help a small smirk from appearing on her face as she ran a towel through her own wet hair one last time, still standing by their desk.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she replied calmly, not giving any external indication as to how pleased Yuzu's comment had made her.

Green eyes immediately sought out her own, as Yuzu propped herself up into a seated position on the very edge of the bed.

"But didn't _you_ enjoy it too?" the blonde questioned, intently examining Mei in an attempt to read her body language and gauge her answer for authenticity.

Mei shrugged her shoulders, but gave Yuzu a miniscule smile – one that many others would have completely missed, but the blonde latched onto like a lifeline.

"I knew it!" Yuzu exclaimed happily, popping up from the bed and startling Mei with a quick peck on the lips. "The prestigious Mei Aihara actually _enjoyed_ my company!"

"Don't get too full of yourself," Mei replied with a huff of indignation, turning to go throw her damp towel into the hamper.

"Just admit that you liked it!" Yuzu said, grabbing ahold of both of Mei's hands in order to keep Mei's attention solely on her.

"I didn't…dislike it," she answered cagily, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with what Yuzu really wanted her to admit out loud.

"Oh come on! If you didn't have me, who would be spending all that _lovely_ time with you?" Yuzu asked jokingly, a big grin gracing her beautiful features.

"Well, I believe there is actually a long list of girls who would like to 'spend time' with me," Mei answered candidly.

Yuzu's grin instantly fell from her face as she dropped Mei's hands.

"Right…" Yuzu said slowly, now appearing to be upset at the turn the conversation had taken.

"All of the Valentine's Day confessions would probably be proof of that," Mei added truthfully.

"I get it; I'm just one of many," Yuzu mumbled, adding a soft, self-depreciating chuckle at the end. She glanced at Mei for only a split second before she turned back to the bed - just enough time for Mei to clearly see the hurt now residing in the girl's eyes.

She opened her mouth to say something, but found she had no idea where to begin. So she just watched as Yuzu walked around to her side of the bed and crawled underneath the covers, making sure to blatantly lay down facing away from Mei.

"I'm going to go to sleep now, Mei. Goodnight," Yuzu said, her voice lacking all of her usual cheer and almost sounding on the verge of tears.

Mei intently observed Yuzu's still form for several moments, mind rapidly processing any and all possible solutions for a new problem she didn't even fully understand. She had just been stating what she viewed to be an obvious truth in her life – something that Yuzu surely knew by now, as well. How had it been so badly misconstrued as Yuzu just being one of the multitude of other options Mei had available to her?

True, maybe that's precisely how it had sounded, but that's certainly not what she had meant. And now how could she explain that to Yuzu without getting drawn into an exhausting conversation about their feelings and what they meant to each other?

Yuzu should just _know_ that Mei was with her because she _wasn't_ like any of those other girls.

Sighing, Mei walked over and turned on the small lamp situated on one corner of the desk. She still had some student council work to catch up, and now might be as good a time as any to start.

She would just let Yuzu be for the night…the blonde will have forgotten all about the matter by the morning, anyway.

* * *

><p>Mei got out of bed the instant her alarm clock went off – immediately heading into the bathroom to change and prepare for another school day. But when she emerged several minutes later, she was surprised to find that Yuzu was still lying in bed, attempting to go back to sleep.<p>

"…Yuzu?" she called quietly to the girl, worrying that maybe the blonde had come down with a sudden cold.

"I told Harumin I'd walk to school with her today," came the soft response from the bed, with Yuzu not even bothering to turn and look at her.

"Oh."

Mei furrowed her brow while looking at the girl. It wasn't too unusual for Yuzu to walk to school with Harumin some days. It was just…the timing seemed to be a little suspicious, especially with the way they had ended things last night. But if that's what Yuzu said she was going to do, Mei would just walk to school by herself this morning.

"Then I guess I'll leave now…" she said, pausing by the door while she waited for Yuzu's response.

"K."

Taken slightly aback by the single syllable response, Mei opened her mouth to say something more, but once again found she did not know what words to say. So, she turned and walked out the door instead, unsure about what else to do other than to continue about her day as usual.

But her mind didn't stray from Yuzu the entire morning – on the way to school…while dropping off her things in the student council room…as she robotically completed her pre-school checklist of items…

The morning had definitely not gone as usual, but a multitude of reasons could have been behind that. Maybe Harumin had requested Yuzu's accompaniment late last night for her own reasons. Or maybe it had been agreed upon in advance and Yuzu had just forgotten to mention it earlier. Or Yuzu was feeling more tired than usual and just wanted the extra few minutes of sleep.

Any of those were plausible reasons for the blonde's strange behavior. Plus, Yuzu wasn't exactly known for being a person of routine, so Mei knew better than to expect the same day twice in a row from the free spirited girl.

Luckily, she wouldn't need to wait long to see the girl again.

Walking into homeroom, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found Yuzu already sitting at her desk, chattering happily away with Harumin. From all looks and appearances, the blonde was her typical, rule-breaking self – complete with a pair of outrageous earrings that Mei was pretty sure were actually pictured in the student handbook as an example of what was _not_ allowed.

But as soon as Yuzu caught sight of Mei, she stopped talking and the smile disappeared from her face. Sensing the rapid transformation in the girl's emotions, Harumin looked over quizzically until her gaze locked onto Mei as well.

Walking purposefully between the two girls' desks, Mei paused briefly between them, looking down at Yuzu only to find the blonde looking pointedly away from her.

"Good morning, Yuzu," she spoke softly to the girl, voice hovering above a whisper as she internally wished for Yuzu to turn back to her.

"Morning, Prez!"

Cringing at Harumin's loud greeting, she was forced to turn and smile politely at the girl.

"Good morning, Harumin," she responded somewhat loathingly. Harumin's grin hardly faltered under Mei's withering gaze, clearly pleased with herself for having pulled Mei's attention away from Yuzu.

Seeing the teacher walk into the room at that moment, Mei held back a sigh. Turning to Yuzu one last time, she found that the blonde still refused to spare her even one glance – forcing her to take her own seat in a mild state of discontent.

Rather than listen to their teacher go over news that Mei had already known for the past two weeks, she focused her attention on the back of Yuzu's head – the girl's blonde waves moving ever so slightly whenever Yuzu made a small adjustment in her seat.

Mei might have been able to come up with excuses for Yuzu's strange behavior this morning, but those had been completely destroyed from their last interaction. It was one thing for Yuzu to walk to school with Harumin in the morning, but to not get out of bed to give her the customary good morning kiss, and then to blatantly ignore her?

It was almost as if Yuzu was…mad at her.

And while she knew precisely why Yuzu would be angry, she was unsure about what to do to fix it.

Mei was abrupt and crass with pretty much every one – and apparently even Yuzu wasn't excluded from that. However, she could usually care less what anyone else thought of her actions the next day. There were many good reasons why people called her cold hearted…stiff…insensitive…indifferent. She could have said the same thing or worse to anyone else and not have given it a second thought.

But Yuzu…

Yuzu deserved better.

And Mei had _thought_ she was that better person for Yuzu – at least, better than Matsuri or any of those boys that always tried to hit on her when she was out shopping – but apparently she too had been mistaken.

The knowledge of having been wrong and hurting Yuzu's feelings sat like a brick in her stomach – a constant reminder of her failure.

* * *

><p>The day passed exceptionally slowly for Mei.<p>

She still felt extremely…bothered…by what had happened with Yuzu. And their interactions so far today (or complete lack thereof) had only served to make that feeling grow into an albatross sitting across her neck. She couldn't stop thinking about the girl – or remembering the hurt and pain that had flashed through the blonde's eyes for that brief instant in time.

And now she was sitting here in the student council room with Himeko, attempting to rush through the stack of forms sitting on the desk in front of her, but having very little success. She no longer even had the walk home to look forward to, as Yuzu had already gone home with Harumin. Of course, Yuzu hadn't even bothered to _tell_ her that, but Mei had seen the two walking out the front gate together out the window after classes had finished.

"Himeko," she said suddenly spoke up, cutting off whatever it was the girl had just been talking about. "What would you do if you accidentally made someone…important…upset at you?"

Himeko stared at her in shock for the unexpected, solicited advice. Mei put on her best aura of nonchalance, pretending that it was simply an innocent question and nothing too out of the ordinary for her to be asking.

Of course, it was _completely_ out of the ordinary for her to be asking Himeko such a question.

"Surely, Mei, you didn't make anyone upset?" the girl began, aghast at the mere thought of it.

She didn't respond, instead leveling the girl with a stare that said to answer the question, not ask more.

"Um…well, I would apologize for whatever I had done…"

Internally, she scoffed at the suggestion. Of course she knew that she should apologize first, but since words seemed to have been failing her recently, she needed another angle to approach this from.

"But what if…more than an apology is needed?" she prodded, curious to see what Himeko could come up with.

"Then I would try to make some gesture that _showed_ how sorry I was," Himeko answered, cheering up immensely at the apparent success of her answer. "Like if it were you, Mei, I would make you your favorite food! And finish all of this work so that you would have less to do!"

Mei pondered the girl's answer seriously for several seconds.

Making a gesture seemed like an easy way to at least get Yuzu to speak to her again, but what should she do? She wasn't exactly the most skilled of cooks, having spent much more time focused on her studies rather than her meals. She didn't want to inadvertently give Yuzu food poisoning or present her with a subpar meal.

Yuzu's homework could be an option…since the blonde seemed to perpetually have a shamefully large stack that needed to be finished. But…then the girl would never learn anything. And what kind of a bad precedent would that set? Yuzu would fail out of school, certainly.

"What if you weren't capable of doing any of those things for me, Himeko?" she asked, noticing the girl's grow furrow in confusion.

"What if the only things that would make me feel better, you weren't good at?" she clarified, rephrasing it so that Himeko would understand.

Himeko nodded her head thoughtfully.

"I would still at least _try_ to do them. Even if it makes me uncomfortable, or I fail at it, it's the thought that counts, right?"

Directing her attention back to the forms sitting on the desk in front of her, she effectively ended the conversation with her friend.

Attempting something she wasn't skilled at…that would certainly succeed in making her feel uncomfortable.

"I still don't know who could possibly be upset at you," Himeko continued while returning to her own work. "Except maybe that sister of yours – she's always looking at you like you just kicked her puppy, even though you're just trying to keep her in line."

Mei felt herself flinch at Himeko's words, having never realized she hurt Yuzu's feelings often enough for even Himeko to have noticed.

That bothersome feeling returned full force as she read and reread the paper in front of her, the words always failing to make sense in her mind.

Whatever this feeling was, she wanted…_needed_…it to go away.

She suspected that getting Yuzu to speak to her again might be the best place to start.

* * *

><p>When Mei stepped into the front hallway of her home, she was surprised to find that Yuzu's shoes were not there on the hallway rack. A small twinge of annoyance struck her – the girl had probably gone out shopping with Harumin after school instead of coming directly home like she was <em>supposed<em> to do.

Slipping off her own shoes, she placed them neatly upon the small rack before removing her coat and hanging it perfectly on a hook nearby.

The sound of a key entering a lock suddenly drew her attention back to the door behind her. Turning around, she unexpectedly found herself face to face with Yuzu as the blonde walked in the front door.

Yuzu was carrying two large shopping bags in her hands, immediately confirming Mei's suspicions.

For a few brief seconds, their eyes locked – both of them frozen in place. Mei could feel her heart rate increase as she took in Yuzu's slightly messy blonde hair and rosy cheeks.

But the moment was gone just as quickly as it had arrived. And, unlike usual, Yuzu was the first to deliberately break eye contact. Turning her attention downwards, Yuzu quickly removed her shoes and set them on the shoe rack before lazily throwing her coat over the nearest hook.

Mei opened her mouth to say something (preferably 'I'm sorry') so that they could move past this, but Yuzu had brushed past her before she could get a single word out. Her eyes opened wide in surprise while she listened to the sound of Yuzu's footsteps disappearing down the hall towards their shared bedroom.

Not even a 'hello?' Or…anything?

"You're supposed to come straight home from school," she muttered under her breath as she turned on her heel and pursued Yuzu.

Entering their bedroom, Mei found the two shopping bags haphazardly thrown onto the ground by the closet. Shaking her head, but ignoring the mess, she turned her attention to Yuzu.

The blonde was already sitting on their bed, flipping casually through one of those fashion magazines she enjoyed reading so much.

"Yuzu," she said, surprising herself by how pained her voice sounded when she finally spoke the girl's name aloud. She approached the bed, but paused when Yuzu sighed and tossed the magazine down beside her and rose to her feet.

"Mei, I _really_ don't feel like talking," Yuzu said flatly, walking purposefully past Mei. "I'm going to go take a bath."

Mei's feet remained frozen to the ground, hearing the bathroom door lock click into place – audibly telling her that she was not invited to try to continue this conversation in a more…hospitable…environment.

Trudging over to the desk, she pulled out the chair and sat down, determined to get some homework done while she waited for Yuzu to finish her bath. Then she could try again.

But she could feel herself growing more frustrated by the second. Her natural desire to simply ignore Yuzu began to bubble to the surface.

Ignore her, and eventually Yuzu would speak to her again on her own. There was no use in Mei driving herself crazy trying to speak to the girl when clearly Yuzu didn't want her to.

But Himeko's words from earlier still sat in her mind.

Even if it made her uncomfortable…she had to at least _try_ to apologize.

And she _did_ want to apologize to Yuzu. Well, maybe not apologize for what she had said, because that had been the truth, but apologize for making Yuzu feel…replaceable. She wanted to prove to the girl that she was _not_ 'like everyone else.' So Mei couldn't just ignore the problem like she would have with anyone else – she needed to try something different.

Plus, Yuzu had never been able to ignore Mei _at all_ before, so this was completely uncharted territory. She could be waiting for a very long time for Yuzu to forgive her if Mei did decide to just wait for this to pass – and if Mei went through another day like today, she would be buried in work for the rest of the school year.

The sound of the bathroom door opening caused Mei's attention to snap upward just in time to witness a still steaming Yuzu emerge in nothing but a towel, casually running a second towel through her golden tresses as she strolled over dresser to pull out a clean pair of clothes.

Silently cursing the girl, Mei tried to focus her attention back upon her textbook, even though she was painfully aware that if she turned her head just a fraction of an inch to the left, she would be able to watch Yuzu change out of the corner of her eye. But, not wanting to be caught looking, she forced her attention downward while listening to Yuzu sliding into her clothes. When Mei finally heard the sound of rustling mattress covers, she risked a quick glance behind her to find that Yuzu was now sitting on the bed, texting on her phone.

Feeling more than a little disappointed, Mei attempted to work through the rest of her homework problems while they sat in silence. Yuzu said nothing from her spot on the bed, clearly content to happily text and giggling every so often.

Mei could feel her nerves fraying from the small noises. It was most likely Harumin that Yuzu was texting – talking about another boy conquest of hers, or a new sale, or…they wouldn't be talking about _her_, would they? Was that why Harumin had given her that look this morning? Had Yuzu already told the girl what Mei had said last night?

The thought only made her more agitated. Harumin had no business knowing what she and Yuzu were fighting about – that was between the two of them. But…if Yuzu had determined that this was serious enough to tell Harumin…

Well, she wasn't going to get anymore work done with her concentration solely resting upon the girl sitting behind her. Tapping her pen to her lip, she felt her exasperation at the current situation beginning to overflow.

And usually when she felt this frustrated about something, she would have Yuzu to…help her vent.

A thought suddenly occurred to her – an idea of something that might break Yuzu's silence towards her. Something that would be completely uncharacteristic for Mei to do, but relatively easy (in theory), nonetheless. Hastily scratching four words down on a piece of paper, she got up from her chair and walked towards the bed.

If Yuzu wouldn't speak to her, maybe she would read, instead.

But as Mei extending the paper towards her, Yuzu only glanced sideways at it before staring forcefully back at her phone – appearing to be almost angry with the device. After a few more seconds, Mei gave up and dropped the paper down on the bed before turning and walking out of the room.

Stepping into the hallway, she noticed that her heart was beating exceptionally fast. Almost as if she were…nervous.

But that couldn't possibly be. Yuzu didn't make her _nervous._ She was just highly anticipating Yuzu's reaction to what she had just written. And Yuzu would read it eventually.

She hoped…

Taking a seat at the kitchen table, Mei pondered what her next move should be now that homework was out of the question. It also looked like their mother wasn't going to be home until late again tonight, leaving the two of them to fend for themselves in terms of dinner. In these cases, usually Yuzu would make dinner for both of them – as Yuzu was an exceptional cook – but seeing as how Yuzu was completely ignoring her, Mei figured that that was not going to be happening tonight, either.

Well…while Mei didn't know how to actually cook Yuzu's favorite food, she did know how to order it.

Grabbing the phone out of the cradle on the countertop, she dialed the phone number she had memorized quite some time ago.

Honestly, why Yuzu enjoyed Chinese food so much, Mei would never know. Thankfully, it was still rather early, so it wouldn't take long at all for the food to be delivered. Just long enough for Mei to sit at the kitchen table and try to think of any other way to possibly dig herself out of this mess. And it really was becoming a mess – and one that Mei was beginning to feel she had very little control over.

A few minutes later, a hand slamming down on the table in front of her nearly scared her right out of her chair. Looking up in astonishment, she found Yuzu standing directly beside her, green eyes sparking with anger.

"What the hell is this Mei? 'You look beautiful today'?" the blonde asked, seeming to be far too livid for having just received a compliment.

"You wouldn't let me speak to you, so I wrote down what I was thinking instead," Mei answered, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible even though her heart was now hammering fiercely inside her chest. She tried to hide her satisfaction when she noticed the blush begin to form on Yuzu's cheeks.

She had finally gotten Yuzu to speak to her, and even if the girl was yelling at her, Mei couldn't help but feel immensely relieved at the sound of Yuzu's voice. Now, Mei just needed to apologize.

The doorbell rang at that moment, announcing the arrival of their dinner. Mei glanced towards the front door before quickly turning back to Yuzu – worried that any movement would cause the girl to shut down and sequester herself in the room again. But when the doorbell sounded a second time, Mei stood and went to collect their food from the deliveryman.

Thankfully, Yuzu was still standing beside the kitchen table, arms folded over her chest, when Mei returned. Setting the bag down, Mei began pulling out the smaller boxes to place in front of them.

"You ordered food?" Yuzu asked in surprise as the smell of Chinese food began to overwhelm their small kitchen.

"Yes…your favorite," Mei replied, setting the last of the boxes out before heading to the cabinet to fetch some plates. Glancing quickly back at Yuzu, she found the girl biting her lip as she tried to decide whether or not she wanted to storm back out of the room now that there was food involved.

Noticing Yuzu's indecision, Mei realized that this might be her best chance to apologize…or at least to explain herself.

"Yuzu…" she tried again, successfully capturing the blonde's attention as clear eyes locked onto her own. "I'm really sorry for what I inadvertently implied yesterday. It was…insensitive…of me."

Yuzu took a half step in her direction, tilting her head forward as permission for Mei to continue.

She sighed. This was exactly the kind of conversation she was not good at and had originally been trying to avoid.

"It may be true that a lot of girls like me, but…that doesn't mean you're at all like them," she began, feeling her heart racing as she tried to force the overly honest feelings from her mouth.

"You're…special. And none of them could ever…replace…you."

And…just like that…Yuzu smiled.

It was the most beautiful thing Mei had seen the entire day.

"You don't think you could replace me?" Yuzu asked quietly, taking a few more steps as she closed the distance between them.

Mei responded with a barely noticeable shake of her head, feeling her mind begin to cloud the closer Yuzu drew to her. Now she could smell Yuzu's perfume…feel the girl's warmth…see the still-fading mark Mei had left on her neck a few days prior…

"I'm special?"

The blonde whispered the question, but she was now standing so close that Mei could feel Yuzu's warm breath travel across her own lips. She instinctually licked her lips, fighting a very strong desire to pull Yuzu into a very rough kiss at that moment.

"You are," she responded instead, firmly holding her ground. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears while she dug her fingernails into her palms so as not to allow her hands to grab onto golden locks of hair.

Yuzu smiled again and, this time, Mei knew that she had been forgiven.

And, this time, Yuzu was the one to grab ahold of Mei and drag her in for a passionate, albeit slightly sloppy, kiss. Mei instantly released her control over her hands, allowing them to freely roam up Yuzu's sides before tangling themselves in blonde hair.

While Mei was fighting Yuzu's lips for dominance, the blonde's hands took a firm grasp of the front of Mei's shirt, tugging her forcefully backwards out of the kitchen.

"I think…" Yuzu said, managing to separate their lips for only a second to get the words out before Mei was kissing her once again.

Words weren't necessary any longer. Mei needed Yuzu to feel all of her pent up emotions from the day – the ones she would never be able to fully express with mere words.

"M-maybe…" Yuzu started speaking again, finally forcing Mei to pause and pull back to gaze at the blonde expectantly. She was surprised to see that Yuzu was flushing deeply – about as deeply as she had done when they first started…doing these things.

"The bath?" the blonde managed to finish, looking like she was about ready to die of embarrassment.

"Yuzu, you just took a bath," Mei reminded the girl, causing Yuzu's blush to turn an even darker shade of red.

"Y-yeah I know…but…can never be too clean, right?" she responded with a timid smile.

Mei stared at the girl for several seconds, feeling her mouth threatening to twitch upward with a smile. Of course, she was more than willing to oblige Yuzu's request.

Locking their lips back together, Yuzu let out a small giggle while Mei pushed her through the bathroom door, slamming it shut behind them.

That's when it hit her again – something she had come to realize just recently.

That she actually was capable of making Yuzu happy.

And making Yuzu happy…made her happy.


	13. What Do You Think?

**Ok, Citrus fans! Here's a tiny, short, minuscule little idea I had yesterday. It's just goofy and hopefully enjoyable.**

* * *

><p>"Sooo...what do you think?"<p>

Yuzu's question drew Mei's attention away from the book lying open on the desk in front of her. Turning to the side, she found Yuzu standing in a pose before her, gazing at Mei with expectant eyes.

Mei instantly realized that she was supposed to comment on something new that Yuzu must be wearing. Ordinarily, she wouldn't care to partake in such a trivial endeavor, but…

The last time this had happened, Harumin had been sitting in the living room with Mei when Yuzu had come bounding in, a bundle of excitement.

"What do you think?" the blonde had asked, same as tonight.

Harumin had given Mei several seconds to respond, but when Mei had barely looked up from her homework, Harumin decided to answer herself - perfectly picking out the most minute changes in Yuzu's outfit. She had even mentioned the slightly different way Yuzu had styled her hair, which had gone completely unnoticed by Mei for the entire day.

As Yuzu had squealed in glee at her friend's thoughtful observations, Mei had leveled Harumin with a glare that would bring most girls to tears. But Harumin had just grinned back at her, silently gloating in a tremendous 'skill' she held over Mei.

Mei had decided then and there that that would be the last time Harumin got the better of her when it came to making Yuzu happy. Harumin shouldn't be the only one able to make Yuzu squeal like that.

So, she had focused more energy on learning Yuzu's wardrobe, which turned out to be far more expansive than Mei would ever have dreamt it to be.

Every afternoon after they had changed out of their school uniforms, she would attempt to commit Yuzu's outfit to memory. She wasn't as adept at it as she would have liked, especially when sometimes she felt the compulsion to take the articles of clothing off of the blonde as soon as she had slipped them on.

It was rather difficult to memorize clothing when it was always crumpled into mounds on the floor, after all.

But coming back to this moment, with Yuzu still waiting upon her answer, Mei realized that this was her first opportunity to put her new knowledge into working practice. It was almost like taking a practice test of sorts.

Her eyes slowly moved up and down Yuzu's frame while trying to figure out what the new item might be. Like any test, it was best to eliminate the answers she knew to be incorrect in order to narrow down what might be right.

New shoes?

Maybe. She didn't particularly recognize the ones Yuzu had on, but the blonde had nearly a thousand pairs of similar black shoes.

New shirt?

No, she definitely remembered the shirt. It was the same one Yuzu had had to mend after Mei had...well, it was the one with poorly secured buttons.

New haircut, maybe?

That was hard to tell when Yuzu would sometimes only get an inch taken off at a time.

New jeans?

Bracelets? Necklace? Earrings? Nail polish?

Why was Yuzu wearing so many different items right now?

The earrings looked like the ones Mei had given Yuzu for her birthday. They were most likely the same ones...since the blonde hardly ever took them off. And even though Mei certainly wasn't the best with fashion, she still highly doubted that the pair went with 'absolutely everything' as the blonde had so loudly proclaimed.

The red nail polish wasn't new. Mei had definitely noticed that color the last time...well, she had noticed.

Realizing that she was quickly running out of time to make any sort of answer, she decided to go with a generic approach. But singular or plural? 'They look great' or 'It looks great'?

A loud buzzer sounded in Mei's mind when Yuzu's smile began to fade away. She hadn't answered quickly enough.

"You don't like them?" she asked, looking far too crestfallen.

But, Mei had been given a clue. It was a them - ruling out at least the potential haircut and the necklace. And it gave Mei the information needed to respond appropriately _without_ actually knowing the correct answer.

"They look great," she responded as appropriately as she thought. After all, none of the remaining items really screamed to be something Mei should make a big fuss about.

As usual, the simple, lackluster compliment was still more than enough to bring a beaming smile back onto Yuzu's face.

"You think?" she asked excitedly, turning ever so slightly to glance in the mirror at herself. "They were on sale and I just _had_ to have them."

Mei couldn't help rolling her eyes at the comment. It was very typical of Yuzu to not be able to turn down a sale. Especially when Harumin was around…

"And Harumin absolutely _loved_ them. She even bought a pair for herself."

Another eye roll as the culprit reared her head, once again contributing a significant dent to Yuzu's bank account. But Mei had at last narrowed down the newest addition to Yuzu's closet to either the jeans or the shoes.

"Well, hopefully she didn't get the _exact_ same pair you did," Mei commented, fishing for just a tad more information before making her final decision.

"Oh no, of course not," Yuzu responded with a laugh. "She got a slightly different color than I did."

Mei couldn't help grinning to herself as she solved the mystery.

Shoes. Yuzu had gotten new shoes.

It certainly hadn't been the smoothest of tests she had ever taken, but Mei couldn't help feeling just a little proud at being able to solve this riddle. To an outside observer, this might have seemed like a small victory, at best. But those people did not truly understand the extent of Yuzu's quest to collect every piece of clothing in existence.

Standing from her chair, she slowly walked over to the girl, pulling Yuzu close by the collar of her shirt and watching for the deep flush that always followed.

"Well, maybe you should take them off while in the house. Don't want to wear them out, do you?" she said quietly, compulsively straightening a microscopic wrinkle in Yuzu's shirt while her heart began to ever so slightly speed up from her close proximity to the blonde.

"W-wha...you want me to take them off?" Yuzu asked incredulously, face going fully scarlet as she stared at Mei in shock. "R-right now?"

A blink was the only external glimpse of surprise Mei allowed to slip through.

It was the jeans. The jeans were new.

And Mei had just told Yuzu to take them off.

Mentally accepting the new situation, she let her hands slide down to rest on Yuzu's hips, taking in the feeling of the new fabric with her fingertips.

Answering incorrectly had turned out better than she would have ever anticipated.

* * *

><p><strong>The Final Exam<strong>

"Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah Yuzu!"

Harumin grinned at Mei from her spot perched upon the edge of their bed. Mei was sitting in the desk chair facing the closet door as they both waited for Yuzu to emerge in whatever new outfit she wanted to show them.

This was it - the final exam. Weeks of studying Yuzu's wardrobe had led Mei to this very moment. How she fared today would determine whether she could consider herself to be a success or failure at memorizing Yuzu's myriad articles of clothing.

And her knowledge would be put to the test by the unquestioned master in this subject area: Harumin Taniguchi.

She leaned forward in her chair instinctually, feeling her pulse quickening as she prepared herself for the lightning fast battle of wits that was about to take place. She thrived in this type of environment...a timed, one question, winner-take-all scenario with nothing but pride on the line.

Seconds later, the closet door opened and Yuzu emerged - clad in an assortment of different colors and accessories - only some of which would be new items the blonde recently acquired. Yuzu stretched her arms out in front of her and gave a small twirl for her audience.

"What do you think?"

Mei's eyes had been intensely scanning the blonde's figure the instant Yuzu had appeared, eliminating any items she knew to be already owned by the girl.

She was able to immediately rule out the necklace, bracelets, and earrings, as they were all gifts from Mei. Maybe she had somewhat cheated in giving Yuzu the necklace and bracelets just recently, but, in her mind, it was Yuzu's decision to wear them over all of the other pieces of jewelry she owned. It just _happened_ to make Mei's answer easier on a day like today, as well.

She could also eliminate the nail polish, which was still red...well, it was _always_ red since Mei had accidentally let it slip that she found the color to be particularly...appealing...

"It looks great on you," she replied confidently once her answer had been formulated, not failing to notice the raised eyebrow Harumin gave her at the generic answer.

"I really like that shade of blue," she further clarified, making it abundantly clear that she was referring to the new button down top Yuzu was wearing.

Yuzu beamed happily at Mei's words, spinning around one more time in front of them.

"Really? You like it?"

"I do..._and_," she cut Harumin off when the girl had opened her mouth to say something, "your new shoes seem to go quite well with it."

Harumin gave Mei a small nod, clearly impressed with her answer, while Yuzu radiated joy in front of them - practically squealing in happiness.

"And," Harumin added, giving Mei a sly grin, "I really like the new perfume you're wearing, Yuzu!"

"Actually, she got that a couple weeks ago, but just hasn't worn it to school yet."

Mei couldn't help but smirk at the dumbfounded expression Harumin gave her while Yuzu began excitedly telling the brunette where she had purchased everything and how great of a price she had gotten them for.

She might not always score well on the practice test, but she always aced the final.


	14. Daydream

**TWO Citrus stories in two days? What is the world coming to? :)**

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><p>"Mei! Wait!"<p>

Yuzu was running late to homeroom...again.

Racing down the hallway, she was approaching the classroom right as Mei was reaching out to close the door, just as she always did. And, just as Mei always did, she saw Yuzu rushing towards her, but still...didn't close the door in her face?

Yuzu skidded to a stop in front of the brunette in shock over what had just occurred. But Mei merely jerked her head to the side to tell Yuzu to get inside.

She wasted no time in complying, quickly shuffling to her seat and throwing her bag down on the ground beside her desk. The teacher began roll call as soon as the door was closed, while Mei began handing back a homework assignment from a few days ago. While Mei walked slowly around the room, Yuzu tried not to let her nerve energy show whenever Mei passed remotely close to her side.

"Yuzu Aihara?"

"He-ere!"

Her voice shot up an octave in surprise when she felt long, slender fingers slide casually up her back - disappearing an instant later as Mei laid Yuzu's assignment face down upon the desk in front of her.

She stared in bewilderment at Mei's back while the girl continued walking around the room, handing back papers to their perspective owners as if nothing had just happened. Goosebumps were covering her arms from the brief, unexpected contact, while a slight shiver continued to travel up and down her spine.

Flipping over her assignment, she quickly found her grade in the top right corner - a 90. Not too shabby! Maybe all of that extra studying Mei was forcing upon her actually had some benefits _besides_ the rewards Yuzu earned from the girl.

When she moved to put the paper away, a small note in familiar handwriting on the bottom of the page caught her eye.

'Very well done. You deserve to be rewarded for your effort. Meet me in the Student Council room after class.'

Yuzu's heart soared into the clouds at the note, which was most definitely written in Mei's near perfect handwriting. She couldn't believe that Mei had actually managed to write such a thing on her homework, much less allowed her to read it! And a reward...she could only begin to imagine what Mei might have in mind…at school, no less...

Homeroom seemed to pass in no time at all. And every time her thoughts flitted back to the note, her heart began pounding uncontrollably in her chest.

Mei was normally...almost cold to Yuzu while they were at school. Mei had explained that she couldn't show any favoritism as the Student Council President. Or at least, not anymore than she currently did by allowing Yuzu to continue breaking the dress code.

So, normally she would have allowed Yuzu to be late. She never would have risked touching Yuzu so familiarly in the middle of the classroom. And she certainly never would have written such a note on Yuzu's assignment.

What had gotten into Mei this morning?

Whatever it was, Yuzu certainly didn't mind. In fact, she quite enjoyed it - if the giant grin that refused to leave her face was any indication.

Her feet carried her swiftly towards the Student Council room as soon as they had been dismissed from homeroom. She would likely make it there before Mei in her haste, but she really didn't mind waiting. All she cared about was finding out what sort of reward Mei had been referring to…

Opening the unlocked door, Yuzu was surprised to find that Mei had beaten her here. She briefly wondered what secret route Mei had taken, before her mind was completely wiped clean when Mei strode forward and captured her lips in a hasty kiss. Mei shoved her back into the closed door, as she heard the sound of the lock sliding into place while Mei's fingers deftly began undoing Yuzu's carefully constructed school uniform.

"Yuzu?"

Mei pulled away from the kiss for an instant, staring intensely into Yuzu's eyes.

"Y-yeah, Mei?"

She could feel her pulse racing uncontrollably, anxiously waiting for what Mei had to say next.

"The rice is burning."

"...H-huh?"

"You're burning the rice."

She snapped out of her daydream when the smell of burning rice finally registered in her brain. Looking down, she let out a gasp of horror, yanking the smoking pan off of the stove and quickly dumping the contents into another dish in an effort to minimize the damage.

A loud groan escaped her lips when she saw the browned edges on the bottom of the clump of rice. She carefully examined the rest of the mess before letting out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been, thankfully.

Turning to the side, she gave Mei a sheepish smile, noticing that the girl was gazing at her quite strangely - most likely worried about what they would now be having for dinner.

"It will be ok. I can remove the worst of it."

Grabbing a knife out of a drawer, she set about cutting away the worst of the rice, relieved that the top portion had at least remained edible. Once she removed the burnt portion, they would still have enough left to -

"What were you thinking about?"

Yuzu felt her face heat up at the unexpected question, suddenly being thrust back into the daydream she had just been having.

"N-nothing! Just...the holidays and all," she replied with a nervous smile.

"Try to be more careful," the brunette responded emotionlessly as she walked away to finish setting the table.

Letting out another sigh, Yuzu set about wrapping up their dinner. Everything was prepared just in time for their mom to arrive home - steaming and ready to be consumed just minutes after she had walked in the door. And, thanks to some clever engineering, the burnt rice incident would go completely unnoticed by their newest arrival.

The meal proceeded much like every other meal they ate together. Their mom asked how their days had been before briefly discussing her own. Usually, they would then go over whatever homework might be hanging over their heads, but, thankfully, the holidays had just begun. That meant Yuzu got to tell her mom about all of the sales she was going to go to with Harumin, and Mei got to talk about...student council work, as usual.

After their meal had ended and the kitchen had been cleaned up, Yuzu followed Mei to their shared bedroom.

"Oh man, I cannot wait to sleep in tomorrow!" she exclaimed joyfully before flopping down onto their bed, knowing that the action would annoy Mei marginally, but it just felt too appropriate at the moment to pass up.

"Are you going to tell me what you were daydreaming about now?"

Yuzu pulled herself back into a seated position, peering at Mei in confusion for several seconds. Mei was regarding her quite sternly as she waited for an answer to her question.

It wasn't like Mei to press for information like this - usually the girl would just let subjects drop and never bring them up again. But, Yuzu certainly wasn't the type to withhold information from Mei - especially when the girl actually showed an interest in something for a change.

"It was just a normal day at school, but you were acting...different. All nice and stuff - holding the door for me, writing a note on my assignment...It was just...really anti-Mei."

She smiled at Mei as she stood up, stretching her arms high above her head.

"I'm going to go take a bath now - want to come with?"

She wiggled her eyebrows at Mei to let the girl know exactly what she had in mind, but was disappointed when Mei shook her head slowly, declining the invitation.

It was a little odd for Mei to turn down such an offer, but she quickly shrugged it off while pulling out a change of clothes and heading to the bath.

It certainly wasn't unusual for her not to understand Mei.

* * *

><p>Mei sat at the desk while Yuzu was in the bath - staring down at her calendar while she attempted to plan out exactly how she would tackle the large stack of student council work she needed to complete over break.<p>

So far, she hadn't found very much luck with accomplishing her task, which was very frustrating in and of itself. Making matters worse was that she was feeling a little...off. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was forced to believe that Yuzu's daydream was the source of her ailments.

Which was ludicrous. If Mei was going to be bothered by all of Yuzu's silly daydreams - well, then she was going to be bothered an awful lot since the girl seemed to have a rampant imagination.

Normally, she wouldn't care about the scenario Yuzu had just described to her - it seemed to be full of trivial gestures, at best. But the smile the blonde had had on her face while staring out the kitchen window...something about that smile seemed to eat away at Mei's mind.

Giving up on her current task, she flipped her planner shut and began preparing herself for bed. When Yuzu reappeared several minutes later, she didn't say a word to the blonde as she slipped under the covers on her side of the bed.

Yuzu didn't appear to be disturbed at all with how Mei was behaving, which meant that she was successfully keeping the blonde from seeing any of her inner turmoil. Which was quite fortunate, given Yuzu's propensity to want to 'talk things out.'

After turning off the bedside lamp, Mei didn't forget to give Yuzu her customary goodnight kiss - a routine that seemed to please the girl immensely, and which Mei had grown uncharacteristically fond of.

Settling under her covers, she listened closely to the sound of Yuzu breathing while she tried to will herself to sleep.

Why did that smile bother her so much?

* * *

><p>By the next morning, Mei believed that she had mostly figured out why she had felt so offput by the events of yesterday. And it was something that seemed so menial...she couldn't understand why it would be affecting her this greatly. Yet, it was...<p>

She couldn't remember the last time she had made Yuzu smile like she had been yesterday while staring out the window. And, for some reason Mei had yet to determine, that idea bothered her more than the smile itself initially had.

So she had decided that, just for today, she would try to make Yuzu smile.

Mei couldn't remember when she had last expressly gone out of her way to do something for Yuzu's happiness - especially not one of those trivial romantic gestures that the blonde seemed to be craving.

But today, she would make a concerted effort. It was the first day of holiday, after all - and apparently she was going to have very little success with her actual work until she solved whatever was disturbing her with her feelings for Yuzu.

Since Yuzu seemed determined to accomplish her mission of sleeping in, Mei woke up first and silently made her way to the kitchen to wait for the blonde to awaken.

Yuzu finally strolled into the room nearly an hour later - already dressed and ready to head out for the day.

"Good morning, Mei!" the girl greeted her cheerfully while pulling out a mug to make herself a cup of tea.

"Good morning, Yuzu," Mei responded cordially, already nearly forgetting her quest to treat Yuzu better today.

"You...look pretty today."

The words felt like sand in her mouth, but she managed to get them out without tripping over herself too badly. While she believed them to be true - Yuzu did look beautiful _every_ day - she certainly hadn't made it a habit to say those thoughts aloud.

Yuzu stared at her with wide eyes, a blush blossoming on her cheeks.

"Uh...thank you, Mei!" the blonde responded after her initial shock had worn off, a gorgeous smile springing onto her lips.

Mei just nodded her head and turned back to the paper she had been reading before the blonde had walked in, pleased that she had already coaxed a smile out of the blonde.

"Do you have plans today?" she asked nonchalantly, tracking Yuzu's movements around the kitchen without glancing away from the paper.

"Yup! Day one of sales for me and Harumin!"

Mei managed to contain the sigh that threatened to slip by her lips.

It would figure that the one day she was determined to spend some time with Yuzu, the blonde would be going shopping with Harumin. The idea of Harumin witnessing Mei's attempts at trivial intimacy did not sit well with her, but what else could she do? She had work that needed to be done and Yuzu was currently acting as a sizeable mental obstacle for her.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you?"

Mei didn't need to look up to know that Yuzu's jaw was now potentially lying upon the kitchen floor in astonishment. After all, it wasn't everyday that Mei would request to go shopping…

"Y-yeah! Absolutely! If...well, if you want to, you're more than welcome to come!" Yuzu responded hastily and in her usual overly wordy manner.

Mei nodded as she stood from the table and gave Yuzu the faintest of smiles - one that hopefully appeared as if Mei were excited about the prospect of spending an entire day shopping.

"I'll go get ready then," she commented lightly before heading back to their room to change.

So far, so good, she thought as she settled upon an outfit appropriate for the day. It wasn't terribly difficult to do these things, if she actively focused on them. And the way Yuzu responded might very well make today worth it.

Once prepared, she met Yuzu by the front door so that they could make their way to the nearest mall. As soon as they stepped outside, she could feel the chilly winter air bite at her cheeks and nose - instantly turning them a rosy red. She kept her hands planted firmly in her pockets while they created some distance between themselves and their home, before finally pulling them out and puffing warm air on them in front of her mouth.

"Yuzu, I seem to have forgotten my gloves. Would you mind?"

She held one hand up in the air in front of them for Yuzu to see her gloveless fingers. Yuzu stopped in her tracks at the request, looking at Mei with a question written all over her face.

"You...you want me to…"

"Yes," Mei responded firmly, hearing a slight edge creep into her voice when impatience began to stir within her.

Thankfully, Yuzu didn't seem to have heard it, or wasn't affected by it, as she giggled and gently clasped Mei's hand in her own - practically bouncing up and down in hardly concealed glee.

They continued walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand, with Mei shoving her other hand back into her pocket in an effort to keep it warm. Begrudgingly, she thought that maybe she should have only 'forgotten' one glove instead of both, but there was nothing that could be done about that now.

Harumin was standing outside the front entrance to the mall, rubbing her hands furiously up and down her arms in an effort to keep the chill at bay. The girl split into an enormous grin the second her eyes spotted Yuzu, although that grin faded to confusion when she spotted Mei.

"Good morning, Harumin!" Yuzu greeted her friend cheerfully, having not noticed the girl's reaction to seeing Mei.

"Good morning, Yuzu!" the brunette responded happily, quickly cranking her smile back up to blinding levels. "And Prez, good morning. I didn't realize that you enjoyed holiday shopping too."

"I don't."

Harumin laughed at her truthful response, which had probably been what she had expected Mei to say.

"Well then you're in for a hell of a day," the girl replied, eyes twinkling with mischief.

When they turned to head inside, Mei stepped quickly forward and pulled open the door, holding it open and tilting her head to tell Yuzu to go inside. Again, the blonde stared at her for a brief instant as if she didn't know what to do before finally heading inside.

"Thank you, Mei!" Yuzu quipped merrily.

"Yes...thank you, Mei," Harumin echoed while following Yuzu inside, giving Mei a long, quizzical look when she passed by. Mei gave the girl a blank stare in response, trying to give away nothing of her true intentions. But Harumin was no fool, plus was exceptionally meddlesome when it came to Yuzu and Mei's relationship - Mei knew that sooner or later Harumin might figure out what she was doing.

Stepping into the building only served to increase her regret at having chosen today, of all days, for this endeavor.

It seemed that every student in the city had decided to descend upon the mall now that school was in intermission. The walkways were packed with swarms of shoppers rushing to and fro, while the droning sound of thousands of voices assaulted her ears. A brief moment of disdain overcame her while she observed all of the mindless people moving about around her.

Didn't they have anything better to do than to go shopping? She was positive that many of the other area schools had given out homework that needed to be finished over the break.

Her irritation decreased substantially when Yuzu turned around and gave her a glowing smile, clearly ecstatic that Mei had accompanied her today. The blonde waved Mei closer to her so that they could follow Harumin through the sea of shoppers towards their first destination.

Ordinarily, Mei would have gladly waited outside of the store while the two girls carried on their shopping inside. But, with the amount of people walking through the halls and the fact that this wasn't supposed to be an ordinary day, she steeled herself and actually followed Yuzu and Harumin into the first clothing store they came to.

Inside the store was busy, but thankfully moderately less crowded than outside. Quickly finding an available seat, she sat in it while waiting for Yuzu and Harumin to complete their whirlwind route around the store. Once their arms were loaded with various articles they wanted to try on, they headed into the changing rooms.

Yuzu appeared a few minutes later wearing a soft yellow top paired with a short blue miniskirt. Harumin appeared instants later wearing a revealing scoop neck with a pair of skinny jeans.

"Mei, do you like this?" Yuzu asked, giving Mei a slow twirl so that she could see the front and back of the outfit.

Mei could feel her desire to answer in a singular word beginning to creep back up, but consciously attempted to respond in more than just 'yes' or 'no.'

"Yes, I do."

Well, it was at least more than one word…

And Yuzu grinned at her response, turning towards Harumin to get her friend's opinion next.

"Hmm…" Harumin began thoughtfully, placing one hand to her chin as if she were about to solve the mystery of life. "I love the top, but the skirt...not so much."

"Really?" Yuzu asked in surprise, reaching down to fiddle with the material between her fingertips. "But Mei likes it."

"Of course she likes it! She'd like anything she could get her hands into that easily."

Harumin playfully flipped up the bottom of Yuzu's skirt with a grin while Mei glared daggers into her.

"Harumin…" Yuzu whined quietly, her face turning beet red while she glanced around to see if anyone else had overheard her friend's comment.

Harumin laughed, a full, joyful noise that rubbed Mei entirely the wrong way.

"I'm just saying! This is only the first store, Yuzu. I think you'll be able to find something you like even more than that one. And if ease of access is what you're looking for, I can certainly help you with that."

Mei scowled in response to the wink Harumin threw in her direction, somewhat resenting the notion that she needed 'ease of access' at all. If anything, she could probably do with a little _more_ challenge when it came to getting Yuzu's clothing off.

The two girls disappeared back into the changing rooms and reappeared several more times in multiple outfits. Each time, Mei attempted to give Yuzu a response that would at least be somewhat helpful - but she really didn't know anymore about fashion than she did about...well, fashion might be the subject area she knew the least about.

Regardless, Yuzu seemed to be having a great time, and that was really all Mei cared about right now. She could already feel her mind drifting back to the work sitting on her desk at home while she waited for Yuzu to change each time.

Once Yuzu and Harumin had exhausted all of the items they liked in this store, Mei watched in avid curiosity while the two girls struggled to decide what they would buy right now, what they might come back and buy later on, and what they wouldn't buy at all.

When Yuzu allowed her to make the final decision between two different shirts that appeared to be nearly identical except for in color, Mei decisively chose the one on the right - even though she actually didn't prefer one over the other.

After making their purchases and walking back out into the crowded mall, Mei extended her hand towards Yuzu's shopping bag.

"I'll carry that for you, if you'd like," she offered, ignoring the quirked eyebrow Harumin raised at her.

"R-really?" Yuzu asked, before obligingly dropping the handle of her bag in Mei's waiting palm. "Thank you, Mei!"

She couldn't help smiling at how delighted Yuzu looked.

"You're welcome," she replied, wishing that the foolish smile would leave her face...or that Harumin would stop staring at her like she had grown a second head.

"Ok Yuzu and...weird Prez...let's make our way to store number two!" Harumin said, clapping her hands together excitedly.

Following Harumin to their second destination, Mei allowed her quiet sigh to escape as the gravity of her current situation finally hit her.

She had gone shopping with Yuzu on several different occasions and found the experience to be mostly enjoyable.

But shopping with Harumin was a different monster entirely.

Each store they entered was like willingly stepping into a tornado - after being whipped around senselessly for an indeterminate amount of time, she would be thrown from the vortex in an aimless direction. She would then somehow find herself in front of another storefront, where the process would begin all over again.

Honestly, as the day progressed, Mei found her respect for Yuzu's patience growing larger and larger. How the blonde managed to go through this nearly every weekend, she would never understand. Because as Mei sat in store number five waiting for the girls to emerge from yet another dressing room, she realized that she would rather inject herself with smallpox than to continue shopping for another moment.

When Yuzu stepped out in front of her, clad in yet another miniskirt Harumin had picked out for her, the blonde's brow immediately creased in concern.

"Mei? Are you ok?" she asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Yes. I think I'll just wait outside until you finish up in here," Mei said.

"Oh, ok," Yuzu replied while Mei stood up, collecting the myriad of bags Yuzu had accumulated over the course of the day and trekking back into the main section of the mall.

Being amongst the sea of people seemed to be the better option than sitting within Tornado Harumin for a few more minutes. At least out here she could collect her thoughts for a few minutes without being prodded or teased by the insightful brunette.

The two girls emerged from the store sometime later, with Yuzu having accumulated yet another bag to add to her collection. Harumin grinned at Mei when they found her.

"What's up, miss first-in-class? Can't keep up in the mall?" the brunette commented playfully, receiving a jab to the side from Yuzu's elbow.

"I think that Mei and I are done shopping for the day," Yuzu said firmly, giving Harumin a look that stopped the girl before she could say whatever had been on the tip of her tongue.

"Ok, Yuzu!" Harumin responded in her usual upbeat manner instead. "Thanks for shopping with me today. And Prez, it was _very_ nice for you to come too."

Before Mei could pinpoint what exactly Harumin had been alluding to, they were waving their goodbyes as they went their separate ways - braving the cold air once again in order to make their trip home.

Quickly remembering her lack of gloves, she realized that their walk home was going to be quite agonizing for her fingers. Switching all of Yuzu's bags into one hand at least allowed her to shove the other one into her coat pocket to mitigate some of the cold.

"Oh!" Yuzu exclaimed as soon as she noticed Mei's movement. Rushing over to Mei's side, she began digging through one of the bags searching for something. Seconds later, she pulled out a pair of nice leather gloves, waving them happily in front of Mei's face before pulling off the tags.

"I got these for you - since you had forgotten yours…" the blonde said bashfully, a small blush mixing in with the girl's wind chilled cheeks. Yuzu reached out and took her bags from Mei's hands while handing her the gloves.

"Yuzu…"

She didn't know what to say as she accepted the gift from the suddenly timid blonde. Slipping the gloves onto her hand, she was pleasantly surprised to find they were exceptionally warm and fit her perfectly.

"I just...you know...wanted to get you something as a thank you for coming with me - and for being so nice to me all day…plus, now you don't have to hold hands with me on the way home!"

Yuzu gave her a wide smile and a nervous chuckle, even though Mei could tell the last part really bothered the blonde more than she was letting on.

"Thank you," Mei responded warmly with a small smile of her own. Taking the bags back from Yuzu, she slipped her free hand into Yuzu's regardless, overlooking the stunned expression the blonde gave her.

They made their way home in comfortable silence, watching as their breath came out in visible puffs of air in front of them.

"So...are you going to tell me why you were being so nice today?" Yuzu finally ventured to ask when their front door came into view.

"I just wanted to make you smile...like you were smiling yesterday while you were daydreaming," she explained succinctly as they walked up the steps to their home, finally separating their hands while Mei searched for the key to unlock the door.

Walking into the front hallway, she set the bags down on the floor while removing her coat and shoes. Noticing Yuzu's lack of response, she turned around to find the blonde staring at her with wide eyes glistening in unshed tears.

"Mei...you make me smile everyday!" Yuzu said, voice wavering with emotions. "You don't have to do all those things to make me happy. You just need to be yourself - and that's more than enough for me."

Sighing, Mei walked back up to the girl and began unbuttoning Yuzu's own jacket in an effort to distance herself from the sentimental words she was about to say.

"I know, Yuzu. And I...I like that I don't have to put on an act for you...but I also like who you make me want to be."

Pulling Yuzu's jacket off of the girl's shoulders, she didn't dare meet Yuzu's eyes as she went to hang the article of clothing in its spot in the hall closet. Only when she felt her steadfast control over her emotions return to her did she walk back over to Yuzu, standing directly in front of the blonde while staring into olive green eyes.

"Now," she said sternly, "it's probably time for you to start working on your winter break assignments."

And, just like that, Yuzu snapped out of her adoring expression in favor of a large pout.

"Already? Mei! Break _just_ started - I still have a ton of time to finish all of those things!"

"Yes," Mei replied softly, tugging Yuzu slightly forward by the front of her shirt, "but whenever you finish, we can spend the rest of break doing whatever you want."

Yuzu stared at her, mouth gaping like a fish out of water while a raging blush spread up her neck and across her cheeks.

"W-whatever I want?" the blonde managed to ask.

Mei nodded her head, leaning even closer to Yuzu's lips as she responded in a whisper.

"_Whatever_ you want."

She smirked when Yuzu practically jumped out of her shoes and flew down the hallway towards their room. Following in the girl's wake, she was satisfied to find that she was now mentally prepared to finish all of the work she hadn't been able to focus on last night.

But she still kept her side of the bargain when Yuzu finished all of her work a few days later.


	15. Improv Day - Harumin x Yuzu

**So, this is Harumin x Yuzu. If you don't like the pairing, don't read this! Sorry, I just really wanted to write one and so I did. It was actually quite a bit of fun!**

* * *

><p>Harumin stared across the lunchroom table at her closest friend, who was once again in the most depressed of moods. She had already asked what the cause of Yuzu's current sadness was, only to be given a shrug of the shoulders and mumble about not getting enough sleep.<p>

The same response she always got.

But she knew better. She wasn't a fool, after all - even though sometimes she liked to pretend to be one.

Long ago, she had noticed the way Yuzu would stare at her younger 'sister' when they passed in the hallways. Or the way Yuzu's eyes would linger when Mei walked around the classroom handing back homework assignments. Or the way Yuzu would jump at the opportunity to spend a few extra seconds with Mei, even when the brunette clearly didn't care whether or not Yuzu kept her company.

It was a shame, as far as Harumin was concerned. A damned shame for someone as gorgeous and beautiful as Yuzu, _inside and out_, to have her affections wasted on a gargoyle like Mei. A very _pretty _gargoyle, but a gargoyle just the same.

So Harumin was forced to endure another lunch with her sullen friend, doing her best to cheer the girl up.

And...she didn't want to brag or anything...but she was _really_ good at cheering Yuzu up.

At school, she had developed a rating system for just how depressed Yuzu appeared to be. Once Harumin had diagnosed the level, she had a list of actions to undertake in order to lower Yuzu's depression back to zero - zero being the happy-go-lucky girl Harumin...liked...so much.

Anything level 5 or below could be cured with a coinciding amount of Yuzu's favorite food. For example, at a level 5, Harumin could cheer the blonde up with four pieces of cake and one orange flavored soda, or three cookies and two bags of those gross BBQ potato chips, or one cookie, two pieces of cake, and three orange flavored sodas.

Once Yuzu's level of depression exceeded 5, however, things got a little bit more tricky. In order to make a dent in a level 6 or higher, Harumin would have to create a combination of jokes, promises of shopping trips, etc. to lower Yuzu's mood into the five range, where food could take her the rest of the way home.

But today...Harumin was a little worried because Yuzu seemed to be pushing a level 9 - the highest level of sadness she had seen in quite some time. And nothing she did seemed to help.

The blonde had barely touched her food, opting instead to push it around her tray with her fork. She was hardly responding to Harumin's comments, refusing to laugh at her jokes, and answering questions in single word answers.

Who knew _what_ Mei had done or said this time to put Yuzu in such a state...

She was afraid that she was going to have to do something truly drastic today in order to get Yuzu to smile again...and that's really all she ever wanted - for Yuzu to smile. A happy Yuzu made her heart feel like it was about to explode - _especially_ when Harumin knew that she was the source of Yuzu's happiness.

A gesture...or a promise...something for Yuzu to look forward to...she needed to think of something reallyyyy good to take the blonde's mind off of…

"Hey Yuzu, you should let me take you out on a date today."

Yuzu's head snapped up, their eyes locking together while Harumin mentally kicked herself in the kneecaps.

_This_ was why she had to _think_ before she opened her big mouth!

Well...she technically _had_ been thinking...but apparently she needed to think much more than that before speaking to someone who made her heart race so easily.

Oh well, her unintentional request had at least succeeded in capturing Yuzu's attention, which was a step in the right direction. She was going to congratulate herself and say that Yuzu's mood was now at an 8.

"Yeah, we should go on a date tonight - I'll pick you up and take care of everything!" she continued - Yuzu still staring at her in surprise.

"Harumin...why…"

She waved off Yuzu's question, knowing that giving an answer would just complicate things. And Yuzu didn't need complicated right now - that's what Little Miss Rulebook was for. Yuzu needed something fun...something easy...the _opposite_ of complicated.

And if the words scratched in the middle stall of the girl's restroom were at all true, Harumin was the easiest girl in the entire school. She took that to mean she was the most fun, too - so she was exactly what Yuzu needed right now.

"Don't worry about the reason! It'll be fun, right?"

Yuzu stared at her for several long seconds, biting her lip while pondering what her response should be. For something Harumin had just suggested off the top of her head, she was pleasantly surprised to see how much consideration Yuzu was putting into her answer.

Pleasantly surprised...and absolutely terrified. If Yuzu said no, she could easily play it off as a joke - but it would really suck to have spent all that time dreaming about one day asking the girl out, only to be shot down because she didn't do it correctly.

Because _how_ she asked Yuzu out would actually make a difference...right.

"Just like...a friendly date, right?"

Turning her grimace at the word 'friendly' into a beaming smile, she nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Absolutely! A nice, 'friendly' date."

Her smile felt much less strained when Yuzu finally smiled back at her - a small one, granted - but a smile nonetheless. Just like the sun temporarily peeking through the clouds on a dreary day, Harumin nearly patted her own back while lowering Yuzu's gloom to a solid 7.

"Ok...that actually sounds like it could be fun. Plus, I'll get to see what Harumin is like on a date!"

Yuzu was positively grinning now, making Harumin's heart sore through the clouds. And, she was pretty sure that meant she had blown past level 6 and brought Yuzu down to level...

The bell sounded in the background, alerting everyone that the lunch period was ending and it was time to head to afternoon classes. She and Yuzu both gathered up their trays at the same moment, Harumin's much emptier than Yuzu's.

"Here, Yuzu - take my cookie," she said, picking the uneaten dessert off of her tray and extending it to the blonde, who accepted it excitedly.

"Mmm...thank you, Harumin!" the blonde responded while they made their way towards the exit of the lunchroom.

"I'll meet you outside to walk home?" she asked in the hallway, preparing to part ways for the second half of the day.

Yuzu nodded her head and waved goodbye before walking down the hallway towards her next class, cheerfully munching on the dessert held in one hand.

She watched the girl walk away, allowing her eyes to linger for a few seconds too long before turning in the opposite direction for her own class.

She had only gotten Yuzu to level 4, but that was a much more manageable number - the girl's own bubbly energy would probably work its magic through the rest of the day, finishing Harumin's job for her.

Lunch had been much more fruitful than she could have ever imagined it would be. In addition to cheering Yuzu up, she had managed to score herself a date with the girl in the process! Sure, a 'friendly' date, but that was more of a date than Harumin had had coming into today.

Suddenly, she began to panic at the thought of this evening.

Normally _she_ was the one being taken on dates - having guys plan and pay for everything was kind of her forte. She just went along for the free food, mostly. She'd never actually put any thought into what a date should be like, or what she would want to do if it hadn't been decided for her.

She now had a lot more respect for the guys who had taken her out.

Thankfully, she had two more classes which she could use to create a master plan for the evening - which seemed like a much more admirable endeavor than trying to listen to her teachers.

* * *

><p>When the final bell rang announcing the end of the school day, Harumin quickly gathered all of her belongings and rushed out the front doors. Besides meeting Yuzu for their walk to school and eating lunch together, walking to the train station after school was one of her favorite parts of the day. Of course, any time spent alone with Yuzu seemed to make it pretty high on Harumin's list of favorite moments...<p>

But her mood instantly soured when she saw the rigid girl standing beside Yuzu near the front gates.

Slowing her pace to a crawl, she abruptly found herself in no big hurry to reach the pair. Being alone with Yuzu might be one of the greatest things in the world, but spending time with Yuzu _and_ Mei was at the very top of her list of least favorite things to do.

"Hey Yuzu! Prez," she greeted the two cheerfully, a smile automatically appearing on her lips. "Didn't expect you to be going home so early."

"There's no Student Council today," Mei responded curtly, bristling at the perceived implication that she was being lazy by going home with the rest of the plebians.

"Chill, Prez! Wasn't trying to say anything about your work ethic," she responded before turning all of her attention to Yuzu, planting herself between the two sisters for their short walk to the station.

"So Yuzu, you excited for tonight?" she asked, noticing that the blonde's mood was now fluctuating in the weird limbo of happy and sad Mei's presence always seemed to induce - Harumin called it 'The Mei Effect.'

But the girl still smiled at Harumin's question, giving her hope that Mei hadn't completely ruined all of the hard work Harumin had gone through to make the girl happy again.

"Mhmm! I'm still really curious what your plans might be!"

Laughing, Harumin thought about the master plan she had just put the finishing touches on moments ago. It really wasn't anything that spectacular because she hadn't wanted their evening to be anything too outrageous. Plus, she kept second guessing all of her ideas. She had settled on a traditional date, but amped up with Harumin's awesomeness - she just wanted it to be fun and for Yuzu to have a good time, after all.

And, more than anything, she wanted Yuzu to see that _some_ people could...and _would_...treat her as more than just a hindrance. Maybe that would help Yuzu give up on her feelings for Mei - the unyielding robot who didn't even seem to care that Yuzu had plans for the evening, opting to walk beside them in stony silence instead.

Harumin pushed the cold girl out of her thoughts, trying her best to imagine that Mei wasn't there at all.

"I think that I planned the _perfect_ evening for you," she said, her attention being jerked back to Mei when she noticed the girl throw a miniscule glance in their direction.

She couldn't help smirking at the subtle action.

So the statue was curious, after all...

Well, Mei would just have to keep wondering -

"I'll pick you up at 7 for our _date_!" she commented gleefully when they reached the point where they would head their separate ways. Managing to keep herself from smacking her forehead, she cursed her big mouth one more time before giving Yuzu a beaming smile - which only widened when she noticed the veiled look of shock on Mei's face.

Speaking without thinking had been completely worth it so far today!

* * *

><p>Pausing on the sidewalk in front of the Aihara household, she took a few deep breaths in an effort to calm her raging nerves.<p>

She really didn't know why she was so nervous…

Scratch that, she knew _exactly_ why she was nervous - but she was actively trying to convince herself that it was just Yuzu. And they were just going on a _friendly_ date. Yuzu didn't think of this as _anything_ more than that.

But those words didn't stop her mind from pretending that this was something more...the beginning of something great and magical and wonderful and all those things you learn from sappy movies.

Shaking her head, she strode purposefully up to the front door and knocked three times.

Just friends. Nothing more.

She really hoped that Yuzu would be the one to open the door and not -

"Heyyy Prez…" she forced a bright smile onto her face, which was met with a steely gaze from the girl holding the door only partially open - as if she would like nothing more than to shut it in Harumin's face.

"Harumin," Mei said, taking a moment to size Harumin up before releasing her grip on the door and walking away, not bothering to invite her in or tell Yuzu she had arrived.

"Guess I'll let myself in then!" Harumin called playfully after the brunette, who didn't bother acknowledging her comment while reseating herself at the dining room table to resume what looked like her homework.

The sight looked a little out of place to Harumin...Mei doing her work at the dining room table…

"I thought you didn't like doing homework down here," she commented casually, leaning both elbows on top of one of the chairs while peering down at Mei's work.

"What business is that of yours?" the brunette snapped back at her, leaning away from Harumin as if she smelled foul.

"I just thought there were 'too many distractions' down here for you, is all," she replied with a laugh, unaffected by Mei's harsh tone.

"The room was distracting today."

"Aww...and here I thought you just wanted to see my outfit!"

Spinning in a circle, she grinned at the glower Mei gave her, the girl clearly unimpressed with Harumin's impeccable wardrobe decisions.

Well, whatever. They couldn't _all_ dress in Mei's straight-laced, please-don't-look-at-me fashion. Honestly, the girl was lucky their school uniforms were moderately flattering.

Harumin's thoughts cut off when she heard rapid footsteps approaching. Turning towards the sound, she felt her heart completely stop when her eyes found Yuzu walking towards her.

_Why_ had anyone thought it was a good idea to create someone so beautiful? Didn't they understand the _health risk_ someone like that posed for the rest of the mere mortals inhabiting this planet? No wonder Mei had had to leave the room in order to concentrate!

Yuzu looked incredible - wearing a short white sundress laced with intricate designs, paired with a yellow belt tied around the middle, the cutest tan and yellow pumps Harumin had ever seen, and a fake white flower pinned in the girl's golden hair.

If the sun ever decided to spend a day down here on earth, Harumin was pretty sure that was exactly what it would look like. And the sun probably wouldn't even be as blindingly beautiful as Yuzu was right now.

"It's rude to stare."

Mei's scold immediately brought Harumin out of her trance as she rushed forward to take a closer look at...her date.

"W-wow Yuzu! You look _fantastic!" _she gushed, taking one of Yuzu's hands and leading the girl in a twirl so that she could take a look at the outfit from every direction.

"Yup, just as I suspected...perfect from every single angle!"

Yuzu giggled, pleased with Harumin's approval of her choice of clothing.

"It'd better look perfect with how long she spent getting ready…" Mei grumbled from the table.

Shooting a small frown towards Mei, Yuzu turned back to Harumin, grin wavering but still there.

"You look really great too!" the blonde replied, the compliment drawing a warm blush to Harumin's cheeks.

She had tried to dress up without actually _appearing_ to have dressed up - dark denim jeans, her most expensive black boots, and a moderately revealing silky red top she had found always garnered her the most compliments - from men, mostly, but she knew several girls who had _really_ enjoyed it as well.

Staring at Yuzu for a little longer, she couldn't help feeling that this 'date' might be a little more legitimate than she had thought it would be...after all, Yuzu had dressed up for it! And, if Mei's comment was to be believed, the blonde had actually spent quite a lot of thought into getting ready.

If this was just a regular 'hanging out with Harumin' night, Yuzu wouldn't have put so much effort into her outfit, right?

"Are those for me?"

The question brought Harumin's mind back to the objects clasped in her left hand, completely forgotten until right now. She held the bouquet of lilies up and bowed her head briefly before giving Yuzu a playful smile.

"These are indeed for you, milady!"

"They're beautiful!" Yuzu responded happily, accepting the flowers from Harumin's hands and holding them up to her nose. "And lilies are my favorite - thank you, Harumin!"

Giving herself a mental high five, she watched as Yuzu rushed into the kitchen to find a vase to place them in. But when Harumin's eyes followed Yuzu through the kitchen door, she noticed that Mei's eyes were now boring into her - narrowed with unconcealed suspicion.

Of course, she couldn't help but to smirk back at the girl.

Yeah, that's right, cyborg - Harumin had actually taken the time to learn what Yuzu's favorite flowers were.

"Where are you two going tonight?" Mei asked, trying to sound uninterested even though the question came out more like a demand for information.

"Wouldn't you _loveee_ to know?" Harumin responded, feeling compelled to take advantage of holding that information over Mei's head for the time being.

As expected, the girl scowled in response.

"If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't have wasted time asking," she snapped back at Harumin, just as Yuzu walked back into the room - saving Harumin from any further interrogation.

"Ok - ready!" the blonde said happily, completely missing the now-sizzling energy emitting from Mei.

Harumin extended an elbow towards Yuzu and gestured for the girl to take it, which she did with an adorable giggle.

"Don't worry, I'll have her back by midnight!" Harumin called back towards Mei while they walked towards the front door.

She grinned when she heard the faintest 'you'd better' mumbled from behind them - before the door closed, leaving them alone in the warm evening air.

"So...where to first?" Yuzu asked, dropping her elbow once they made it to the sidewalk, much to Harumin's disappointment.

"To the photobooth in the mall!" she decreed, smile not faltering for more than a millisecond as she marched them purposefully in the right direction.

"The...what? Why?"

"To memorialize your outfit, of course!"

"Couldn't we just...take a picture with our phones?" Yuzu asked, pulling her phone out of her bag and holding it up for Harumin to see.

"Well, if you want to ruin all the fun, you could do that."

Yuzu looked at her curiously for a second before putting her phone away with a smile.

"You're the boss!" the blonde said with a chuckle. "Guess I gotta do what my date wants me to!"

"Damn straight," she replied with a smile, butterflies fluttering in her chest as they made their way towards their favorite shopping center - a path they both knew by heart.

Harumin was already straying from the plan she had spent hours diligently crafting when she should have been listening to her professors. They were _supposed_ to be heading straight to dinner at Yuzu's favorite restaurant, but that would just have to wait until later - Yuzu's outfit was just too amazing not to have photographic proof of.

Thankfully, the mall wasn't too far from their path and they arrived in no time. She pulled Yuzu inside and straight to the photobooth, which was hardly ever used but still fully operational. Sticking the right amount of money into the machine, she snuggled close to Yuzu's side, making herself comfortable in the enclosed space while they waited for the countdown to begin.

And a photobooth was a perfect idea! Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? Private, confined space where they were practically forced to sit as close as possible to each other. She could feel Yuzu's warmth beside her...she could smell Yuzu's citrus shampoo...her heart was about to explode in happiness.

"Ok...let's do the first one...happy!"

She yelled the word at the very last second before smiling, knowing (or hoping) that Yuzu would follow her lead.

The machine gave them another countdown instantly, giving them very little time to prepare for the next photo.

"Surprised!"

She raised one hand in front of her mouth and tried not to laugh she saw Yuzu do the same thing.

"Sexy!"

Turning her head slightly to the side, she stuck out a lip in a small pout.

"Demure!"

"Huh?"

Yuzu started giggling as the last picture went off.

"Harumin! You don't know what demure means?"

"Uhh.." she stalled, trying to rack her brain for a definition while they waited for their pictures to print.

"It means bashful," Yuzu answered.

"I would never have known that."

"That's because it doesn't describe you in the slightest!" Yuzu said, sticking out her tongue playfully.

"Don't you know it!" she replied with a wink, reaching forward to pull the photographs from the machine as soon as they were finished printing, eyes carefully sliding from one picture to the next with a smile.

The last picture ended up being her absolute favorite - where she was looking at Yuzu in bewilderment while Yuzu was laughing.

The blonde looked so happy in the last photo...something Harumin so rarely got to see and had never been able to capture. But here it was...held right within her hands...a moment when Yuzu was joyful and carefree. A moment to remember...a moment to treasure...

It was going up in her locker, for sure.

Yuzu laughed beside her while looking at her own set of photos.

"You look soooo confused," the blonde teased, waving the last frame in front of Harumin's face.

"New rule - no vocab words allowed in the photobooth," she stated flatly, although still smiling at how pleased Yuzu was. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

They made their way out of the mall and down the familiar street towards Yuzu's favorite spot.

"Ohhh - are we going to Alexander's?" the blonde asked when she recognized the path they were taking.

"Maybeeee…"

But when the restaurant came into view, Harumin knew something was wrong. Most nights there were groups of people waiting outside to be seated, but tonight the sidewalk was suspiciously empty.

"Shoot, they closed early tonight…" Yuzu said, reading the sign taped to the front of the door.

Maybe not.

"That's alright, because that's not where we were going anyway!" Harumin responded, adlibbing yet again.

That had been where she had planned on taking Yuzu, but when life set up roadblocks...well, she stepped over them! Her eyes scanned the area, searching for an alternative plan of action - something close, too, because she was already starving. And if _she_ was starving, Yuzu must be wasting away by now.

"We're actually going _there_."

She pointed across the street towards the first place she spotted that looked like it served food. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be an old pizza parlor, which she hadn't even known existed before her eyes had fallen upon it seconds earlier.

"There?" Yuzu asked, just as concerned about the place's appearance as Harumin was. But pizza was pizza, right? Not too easy to mess up...although it did put a slight damper on the extravagance that was supposed to be this date.

"Yes, there - come on!"

Grabbing Yuzu's hand, she pulled the blonde across the street and through the front door. Finding the front of the restaurant to be completely abandoned, she was at least pleasantly surprised to smell freshly baked pizza coming from the ovens in back. They didn't smell half bad, either.

"Mmm...smells amazing…" Yuzu said from beside her, drawing in one long, deep breath before exhaling with a bright smile. That settled it for Harumin - if Yuzu thought it smelled good, then it must be good. The girl had a nose for food like a bloodhound for...blood. Bloodhounds tracked blood, right?

"Hold on, wait here."

Leaving Yuzu near the front door, she made her way towards the back of the restaurant, following her nose to lead her to someone in charge. Within seconds, she walked up to a long bar looking into the kitchen. Contrary to the rest of the empty restaurant, the two cooks in the kitchen appeared to be very busy making pizzas and packing them into boxes for delivery. Another man stood patiently waiting, only to exit through the back door with the pizza boxes as soon as they were closed.

"Hello?" she directed towards the men in the kitchen, catching their surprised attention.

"Ah, hello!" a burly haired man greeted her from just outside the kitchen floor. "What can I help you with, young lady?"

"Well...I was wondering if you guys are open? A...friend...and I would like to order something to eat…"

"Of course!" he responded cheerfully, "We don't get many walk-ins...mostly delivery, you see, but you're more than welcome to place an order and eat it here."

Watching the two chefs go back to making their pizzas, an idea suddenly occurred to her - something that would catapult this date back into 'completely awesome' territory - i.e., the type of date romantically stunted androids had no chance in hell of outdoing.

"Hey, you don't think that maybe…"

* * *

><p>Several seconds later, she was walking back to the front of the store to retrieve Yuzu with a satisfied grin.<p>

"Ok, you ready for some pizza?" she asked, feeling a bounce in her step as excitement flooded through her. Before receiving an answer, she grabbed Yuzu's arm and began pulling her back towards the kitchen.

"Yes...but I don't think we're supposed to be going back here, Harumin!" Yuzu whispered, although still following Harumin's lead obediently.

"Relax, Yuzu! Do you really think I would get you in trouble on our date?"

"Uh…maybe?"

Laughing at the honest reply, she dragged the dumbfounded girl into the kitchen.

"Yuzu, this is Tony and Eric - Isaac is the one over there manning the phones. Guys, this is Yuzu - aka, the most beautiful girl you'll see tonight."

The three older gentlemen, all brothers as Harumin would later find out, laughed while Yuzu blushed like a fire hydrant. Tony then threw a rolled up piece of cloth towards each of them, which they caught and unfolded curiously to find large white aprons.

"You might wanna put those on," he said with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to get pizza sauce on your clothes now, would ya?"

Harumin grinned at Yuzu, who was looking at her with wide eyes while tying the apron around her back.

"We're going to...make our own pizzas?" the blonde asked curiously, her confused expression turning to excitement when Harumin nodded.

"Yup! They're going to teach us how to make our own pizzas tonight!" she replied happily, quite thrilled at her genius idea.

Yuzu grinned at her before clapping her hands in front of her chest.

"So - where do we start? I'm starving!"

The three men laughed again while Tony motioned them his direction.

"Alright, first step is the most important - the crust! You're gonna take a lump of dough, like this, and form it into a circle about this size...pick it up, throw it up in the air a few times, like this - and presto pizza!"

Harumin and Yuzu both stared at Tony with huge eyes, the man having just worked what appeared to be several minor miracles in the span of a few seconds.

"Uhh...Harumin...you got all that, right?"

"Of course! But maybe you can show us just one more time?"

Tony laughed, having already tossed out four more pizza crusts while they had stood there flabbergasted.

"Why don't you girls just try it out and see whatcha get?" he said, sectioning off two portions of pizza dough and gesturing for them both to give it a shot.

Harumin shrugged and stepped up to the dough, smushing it out into a bigger circle like she had seen Tony do. Once that was done, she delicately picked up the crust, finding that everyone in the restaurant was now watching her eagerly.

"Now toss it like this," Tony instructed her, making some quick hand gestures that she totally didn't catch.

She tried to mimic his motion, throwing the mound of dough spinning up into the air. Unfortunately, her aiming wasn't exactly the best...and the dough went shooting sideways into a stack of metal utensils with a loud clang. Grimacing, she turned back to Yuzu only to find everyone trying not to laugh at her horrible failure.

"Go ahead and laugh," she said with a grin, all the approval needed for everyone to burst into ruckus laughter - with Eric collecting the catastrophe dough from its spot on the countertop.

"H-Harumin...that was...amazing…" Yuzu wheezed out, nearly gasping for air from her laughter.

"Oh really?" she responded playfully, never one to mind being the butt of a joke, "Then let's see if you can do any better!"

The girl's laughter cut off as she eyed her own portion of dough suspiciously. Realizing that now she had made Yuzu a little nervous, she tried to encourage the blonde to give it a try anyway.

"Come on, you really can't do _worse_ than me," she said reassuringly, grinning when Yuzu smiled and stepped up to the counter.

She watched in rapt attention while the blonde pushed the dough into a circle, then received some extra instruction from Tony as to how to throw and catch the crust. The next moment, Yuzu tossed the pizza dough up in the air, perfectly straight, before catching it on both of her hands when it came back down to her.

They all cheered her success while Yuzu threw the dough up another time - this one just as perfect as the first.

"She's a natural!" Isaac called into the kitchen from his spot taking orders from the phone.

Yuzu turned and smirked at her, the expression much more adorable than aggravating.

"Did you hear that, Harumin? I'm a _natural_," the blonde teased.

"You're not trying to convince people you're a natural blonde again, are you?" she replied with a wink, causing Yuzu to blush furiously.

"I-I never said that I was! I _suggested_ that I could be!"

Giggling, she reached out and tapped Yuzu's nose, leaving a small patch of white flour in her wake.

"Come on, natural, make me a pizza crust too - since obviously my aim is crap."

Yuzu grinned back at her and went to work on the dough immediately. Harumin watched with a huge smile plastered on her face while Yuzu became an expert pizza tosser before her very eyes. The blonde was having a great time with it too - trying to throw the dough higher into the air each time as Tony prodded her.

In a few seconds, Harumin had a perfect pizza crust laid out in front of her, and an enormously proud date standing beside her.

"Alright now you gottta sauce it!" Tony continued with his instruction, dipping the end of a long ladle into a bucket filled with marinara sauce, dropping it in the center of the crust and spreading it out into a perfect circle - leaving a space of one inch around the edge for the crust.

"Seems easy enough…" Yuzu replied, gingerly taking the ladle from Tony's hands, dipping it into the vat and then spreading the red sauce smoothly around the surface of her pizza. It took Yuzu a little longer than Tony, but her pizza came out looking nearly identical.

"God, why are you so good at this?" she asked while accepting the ladle from the girl.

She tried to imitate exactly what she had just seen Yuzu do. Drop the sauce in the middle of the dough, use the bottom of the ladle to spread it evenly in a circle…

"That looks great, Harumin!" Yuzu remarked when she saw the finished product.

Harumin grinned at her own pizza, surprised that she had managed not to mess that up.

"Those look ready for some toppings!" Eric commented from behind them. Moving their pizzas across the counter, he gestured towards the many containers lined up against the far wall.

"Throw on your cheese - then pick whatever you want on top!" he said, demonstrating by casually throwing a handful of cheese perfectly across the top of the pizza he was making, then carefully adding several other items on top.

They quickly followed his instructions for the easiest part of the process - Harumin made herself a ham and spinach pizza, much to Yuzu's disapproval, while the blonde made a pepperoni, sausage, and bacon monstrosity.

"Seriously...why do you have so much meat on there?" she asked, making a face at the tower of toppings Yuzu had created.

"What can I say? I like meat!" Yuzu commented.

Harumin burst out laughing at the compliment, earning a set of narrowed eyes from Yuzu.

"Honestly, I'm surprised yours doesn't have _more_ meat on it, Harumin," the blonde replied with a smirk. "But I'm guessing you get yours elsewhere?"

Letting out an amused snort, she shook her head repeatedly, unable to retort while consumed by laughter.

"You girls can wait up at the counter if you like, while they bake," Eric replied while sliding both of their pizzas into the massive oven - glancing at both of them curiously.

"Sure!" Harumin replied instantly, before an idea popped into her head.

She leaned towards Eric and whispered, "Hey...do you think you can throw a handful of those tiny fish onto her pizza for me?"

The man laughed and gave her a wink before turning back to his job, which she took as a sign of acceptance of her request. Turning away, she walked towards the counter that ran along the outer edge of the kitchen, where they would be able to sit and eat while still watching the pizzas being made.

Yuzu joined her seconds later, taking a seat on her right as they watched the activity continue in the kitchen.

"This was such a great idea, Harumin," Yuzu commented, unintentionally setting the tips of Harumin's ears on fire with the compliment.

"Well, ya know, I'm kind of full of them!" she responded with a wink, drawing another laugh out of the girl.

She was just happy to see Yuzu so cheerful again. It was almost as if this morning hadn't been one of the worst the girl had had in awhile.

A few minutes later, Eric was waving them back into the kitchen as he removed their pizzas from the oven. They practically bolted back to his side - both anxious to see how their masterpieces had turned out.

Taking one look at the pizzas sitting beside one another on the countertop, Harumin burst out laughing.

"H-Harumin!" Yuzu whined from her side. "You put anchovies on my pizza?"

The question only made her laugh harder while she pointed to her own violated creation.

"You put anchovies on _mine_ too!"

Yuzu began giggling while they looked at their pizzas, both of them now covered in handfuls of tiny fish.

"Well...you weren't supposed to have the same idea," the blonde replied, taking the pizza cutter when Eric handed it to her and slicing her food into evenly sized pieces like a pro.

"So you're the only one who gets to have diabolical ideas?" she retorted, trying to slice her pizza as quickly as Yuzu had - only to end up with uneven, slightly crooked slices. "I don't think so!"

They both giggled while sliding several pieces onto the plates Eric handed to them, heading back to the countertop to enjoy their meal.

"I've never had anchovies before…" Yuzu admitted, gazing skeptically at the creatures. Shrugging, the blonde took a big bite, only to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"They're...so fishy…"

Laughing, Harumin took a bit of her own pizza - trying not to cringe when the clashing flavors hit her tongue. Resisting the urge to spit the pizza back onto her plate, she chewed a couple time and swallowed the bite nearly whole.

"I don't mind them at all - I actually enjoy fishy things."

She meant to send Yuzu a suggestive wink at her comment, but found her date obliviously removing the anchovies from the food on her plate. Shaking her head, she remembered that Yuzu didn't have much experience when it came to those sorts of things. At least, Harumin _hoped_ Yuzu still had no experience.

Removing the anchovies from her own pizza, she found that the food was actually quite enjoyable without the conflict in toppings. The two of them finished their food quickly - stuffing themselves to the brim before stopping.

The phone was ringing more and more frequently now, while Isaac yelled more orders to the two men working inside. It seemed like the busy part of their night was just about to get started.

"Shall we continue our date now?" Harumin asked, noticing how Yuzu's eyes were intently focused upon the chefs as they continued to crank out pizza after pizza.

"Do you think we should...offer to help?"

Harumin grinned at the question.

Of course Yuzu wanted to help.

And of course that was perfectly fine with her.

"Hey boys, need a hand in there?" she called out towards Tony and Eric, who grinned and waved them both back into the kitchen. In no time, she and Yuzu were whipping through pizza orders, being placed in charge of adding the toppings and slicing the final products.

She worked up a sweat in no time - realizing just how hot it was in the kitchen while they were trying to get pizzas made as quickly as possible. Of course, she and Yuzu were having a great time with their respective tasks - Yuzu being put in charge of slicing the pizza into perfect pieces, while Harumin was the one adding the toppings.

She hardly even noticed the delivery men who kept coming back into the kitchen to pick up their orders and go. It was just her and Yuzu - working together like an unstoppable team.

It was almost an hour before the orders began to slow down, by which point she was happy to hang up her apron.

This was why she didn't have a job and didn't want one - working was hard!

When she tried to pay Isaac for the pizzas they had eaten, the man absolutely refused - saying that really he should be paying them for all of the help. When they left, they were invited to come back anytime.

The two of them stumbled back outside, promising to come back soon. Compared to the superheated kitchen, the night air now felt chilly against her skin - which was a relief.

"Ok, that was the most fun meal I've ever had in my life," Yuzu said while they stood outside the restaurant.

Harumin grinned at the comment.

"See? I know how to plan a great date - don't I?"

Yuzu laughed and shook her head.

"Well I hope you didn't have a movie planned next, because I think we've missed like...all the showtimes."

Glancing at the time on her phone, she realized that they had, in fact, missed the movie she had planned on taking Yuzu to see - a super scary horror slasher that was sure to get the blonde clutching onto her arm.

But not to fear! More improvisation was all she needed…

"Let's go," she replied, once again taking Yuzu's hand to lead the way.

Being on this 'date' seemed to have given her the courage to grab Yuzu's hand whenever she wanted to - something she usually had to find a good excuse to do on any normal day.

Not having the cold-blooded icicle glaring at her each time only made it that much more enjoyable.

Walking down the sidewalk, she kept her eyes peeled for anything that could substitute for the last part of their date. Most of the shops were closed or closing, so that wouldn't help. She needed something fun and date-worthy...something Yuzu-worthy...

In just a few minutes, she found exactly what she was looking for. The perfect end to their date - guaranteed to be fun for everyone involved.

And...maybe most importantly...something a stuffy alien would never _ever_ think to do with Yuzu.

"Hey Yuzu...when's the last time you went on a merry-go-round?"

"Probably not since elementary, why?"

"Are you ready to...take a spin with me?" she asked with a grin, dragging her over to the small park right off the main road, which was thankfully somewhat lit by the streetlights and the moon above.

In the middle of the park sat a merry-go-round - her all time favorite park fixture when she'd been a child.

"Hop on!" she said, motioning for Yuzu to climb aboard the metal platform.

"I'm not actually going to see you do _manual labor_, am I?" Yuzu teased while doing as told, hanging onto one of the metal handrails while Harumin began to push forward from the side.

"Only for you, Yuzu. Only for you."

She realized that she was scratching her favorite boots on the stone pebbles while she picked up the pace, but honestly couldn't care less at that moment. She ran as fast as she could go before jumping and pulling herself aboard the platform with Yuzu - the blonde now giggling cheerfully while they whipped around in a circle. Harumin carefully made her way over to Yuzu, standing right beside the blonde, grasping the same handrail.

When she looked into Yuzu's eyes, they were twinkling with happiness - a type of unfiltered joyfulness Harumin had never seen before. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen...and it took all of her willpower not to kiss Yuzu right there, on top of the spinning merry-go-round in the middle of the night.

But this was it. This was what she had wanted Yuzu to see - to feel.

There was something out there for her, something great and wonderful...that didn't hurt the way things seemed to with Mei. Sure, Harumin knew that Mei was more than capable of making Yuzu feel great for short durations of time...but not without causing more pain moments later.

And Yuzu didn't deserve that. She deserved so much better - she deserved to be _this_ happy, all the time. Spinning in circles with nothing but glee in her eyes while giggles escaped uncontrollably.

And if Harumin could make Yuzu feel this way...then...someone else could too, right? Because she wasn't going to be greedy...she didn't need to be the one who made Yuzu happy...just as long as _someone_ was.

But until Yuzu found that person, Harumin planned on being right here - picking the girl up when she was down, loving her when the world seemed to turn its back. Because that's what...friends...were for.

When the merry-go-round started to slow down, Harumin jumped off to push them to high speeds once again - wanting to stretch this moment for as long as possible. Wanting to spend as much time with _this_ Yuzu as possible…

But now matter how fast she tried to run, eventually time caught up to them and forced Harumin to suggest it was time to take Yuzu home. She didn't want to get the girl into trouble with her warden, after all.

"I hope that you had a good time tonight," she said while they walked down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand. They were nearing Yuzu's door far quicker than Harumin would have liked - this chapter of their story nearing its completion.

"I had a _great_ time," Yuzu responded, turning to the side to give Harumin a grin. "It was really fun to see what Harumin is like on a date!"

Harumin laughed at the comment, wondering if Yuzu had any idea that tonight was _no where_ near how she would act on a normal date.

"Well, you know, gotta stress to impress!" she replied playfully, bumping her shoulder into Yuzu's while they turned to walk up to Yuzu's front door.

"Impress, you certainly did."

Making it to the front step, she watched with a rapidly beating heart while Yuzu pulled her keys out of her bag, the sound of jingling metal for some reason setting off alarms in her brain.

The night was actually over - it was time to go back to just being friends…

"Hey, aren't I supposed to get a kiss goodnight or something?"

The question slipped out before she could stop it - trying to extend this moment, their date, for just a few seconds longer.

Thankfully, Yuzu just laughed off the suggestion.

"Harumin!" the blonde replied, feigning a look of dismay, "Now just _what_ type of girl do you take me for?"

"A cheap one?" she responded with a wink. "I _did _get you to work for your own dinner."

Yuzu laughed again, the sound like music to Harumin's ears.

"Well, I _suppose_ that a kiss on the cheek wouldn't be horribly uncalled for," Yuzu said with a smile.

But Harumin couldn't believe what she had just heard. Was that _really_ a 'yes?' Was it?

Well, if it wasn't, she was going to kiss the girl anyway. She just wished that her heart would stop thumping so loudly in her chest - Yuzu could probably hear it, by now.

Leaning forward, she moved towards Yuzu's cheek, only to change paths at the very last second and plant a quick kiss directly on Yuzu's lips - backing quickly away with a laugh at Yuzu's stunned expression.

"Oops...sorry, I have terrible aim!" she responded quickly, hoping that the darkness would hide the furious blush she could feel blossoming on her cheeks.

Yuzu didn't respond for several seconds. Her eyes still wide, she chewed adorably on her bottom lip for several seconds - deep in thought about something.

And just when Harumin was about to make a joke to remove any weirdness between them, Yuzu leaned forward and kissed Harumin on the lips.

Her eyes flew open in shock, feeling Yuzu's soft lips pressed against her own. She could feel how unsure Yuzu was of the gesture, the girl practically shaking with anxiety.

Don't be greedy, don't be greedy...she repeated to herself over and over - until she felt Yuzu beginning to pull away. Feeling the contact leave, her self control instantly snapped and she threw any caution to the wind - pushing Yuzu back into the door and clashing their lips together much more passionately, allowing a rush of emotions to flow through her lips in just a few seconds.

When she heard a tiny squeak come from Yuzu, she backed away immediately - mentally kicking herself for pushing too far.

"Sorry - kind of a reflex," she joked, forcing a smile back onto her face while her heart beat painfully in her chest.

Now standing directly underneath the porch light, she realized that Yuzu was blushing profusely - the girl's face likely matching Harumin's in color.

"I'll have to be more careful next time then," Yuzu replied quietly before turning to unlock the door and retreat into her house. "Goodnight Harumin - and thank you again...for everything."

She stared at the door long after Yuzu had closed it and turned off the light, frozen in place where Yuzu had just left her.

'Next time?'

Had Yuzu just said 'next time?'


	16. The Dance

**Another small idea that came into existence just this morning. I feel badly that I haven't written Citrus recently - I haven't READ it recently, either. My heart just can't take it, but I can at least give you guys this!**

* * *

><p>Can the kendo team showcase a fight during lunch next week to recruit new members...no.<p>

Can the swim team use the pond as a reserve pool...no.

Can the dance team use thirty desks as part of their new routine...no.

Sighing, she flipped over another sheet of paper, adding it to her 'completed' stack before taking another request off the never ending stack on her right.

Sometimes, she could swear that people were just messing with her by submitting these requests. They _had_ to know they would be declined, right? _Why_ would she ever allow the art class to paint the 'ugly' blank wall in the gymnasium?

Saying 'no' wasn't the hard part - she could easily have a stamp made and finish this entire stack in under thirty minutes - it was providing an explanation for the denial that took so much of her time. It was like explaining to a child why eating an entire gallon of ice cream would be a bad idea.

At least she was...a quarter of the way done.

Hearing a cheerful hum enter the room, she glanced quickly to the side to confirm that it was Yuzu stepping back into the room.

The blonde was humming to herself while fastening earrings to her ears. Wearing a stylish royal blue dress that hung off her shoulders and dipped _tastefully_ low, the girl looked, well, very pretty.

Without turning away from the desk, she listened as Yuzu rustled around in their closet, undoubtedly in search of a pair of heels to go with the outfit. It was with a soft 'aha' that the rustling finally stopped and a soft thump of a body sitting on the edge of the bed was heard.

She'd gotten pretty good at 'seeing' what Yuzu was doing without even looking, the unfortunate side effect of being so completely distracted by the girl's presence that her senses seemed to work in overdrive.

It was entirely the girl's fault too. Yuzu was constantly humming, or singing, or in any other manner providing an interruption to her work. God forbid the girl was moping or sad...then her ability to function seemed to be stopped, completely.

"Hey Mei?"

"Hmm?" she answered, turning to meet a set of curious eyes, being careful not to let her own gaze slide down any further than Yuzu's chin.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready now?"

The question immediately turned her gaze away - back to the piles of papers neatly arranged on her desk.

"I'm not going," she replied, picking up her pen and pretending as if she were reading the request lying in front of her.

The expression on Yuzu's face would certainly serve as another distraction to her, so she refused to see it. Although, the permeating silence served as much more of a disturbance than it should have.

"I have student council work that needs to be done," she explained further.

Somehow, she could _feel_ the disappointment radiating from behind her.

And it made her feel like she needed to apologize.

Which was ridiculous. She hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't as if she could control the amount of work she was given on any particular evening, especially not to protect Yuzu's delicate feelings.

Regardless, she felt like she should say she was sorry.

"But you -"

"Yuzuuuuu!"

The blonde's words were thankfully cut off as an unstoppable bundle of energy bounced into the room in the form of Yuzu's best friend, Harumin. She turned from her work just in time to watch the girl wrap Yuzu in a bear hug before giving her a kiss on both cheeks.

As usual, the girl was wearing something entirely inappropriate - the dark green dress revealing much more skin than should be allowed.

And, as usual, the girl's presence brought a smile to Yuzu's face.

"Yuzu, you look great!" Harumin said, holding the blonde by her bare shoulders and looking her up and down time and time again.

The compliment brought out Yuzu's giggle.

"You do too, Harumin!"

It was only then that Harumin bothered to glance her way, raising one eyebrow in surprise at her appearance.

"Uh...you aren't wearing that, are you Prez? I know the invites said 'semi-formal,' but that might be a _little_ on the casual side."

Opening her mouth to provide a rebuttal, Yuzu cut her off before the words came out.

"She's not coming," the blonde said, leveling her with that disappointed gaze she'd been trying to avoid.

Harumin raised an eyebrow at her again, but grinned.

"Oh, well that's too bad! But _you'll_ still be the most gorgeous one there, Yuzu! And all the boys are going to fall all over you in that dress!"

Yuzu giggled again as her friend tickled her playfully in the sides, missing the cringe she'd done at the girl's words.

That's right - there were going to be boys at this dance. Their school had decided to hold a joint event with one of their 'brother' schools from across town.

"You're probably already intimately familiar with 'all the boys,' right Harumin?" she asked, keeping her voice low and steady while mixing in just an ounce of venom.

But the brunette merely grinned back at her.

"You know it!" Harumin replied with a wink.

Clenching her back teeth, she wondered why, of all the people in their school, Yuzu _had_ to become friends with Harumin. The girl was _impossible_ to insult - everything Mei threw at her was either brushed off or treated like a compliment.

It would be logical to believe that the girl was just too dumb to recognize the slight, but she'd seen the brunette's test score when Yuzu had wagered Harumin couldn't outscore her.

The blonde had spent an _entire week_ at the girl's house after she lost.

That had been an upsetting time, indeed. And she hadn't finished nearly as much work as she'd anticipated in the blonde's absence.

"Well, we can get going now..." Yuzu finally said, the two girls turning to head out the door.

"Yuzu," she said, standing from her chair as the blonde stopped and turned back to her.

Whatever words she'd been about to say died on her tongue when she saw Yuzu's expression - that look that was filled with so much innocent hope, the one she would have to crush, once again.

"Don't forget to be back by curfew."

She tried to issue the warning as forcefully as possible, but it came out much more defeated than usual - the unfortunate side effect of those shining eyes focusing their powers upon her.

"O-oh, uh actually…"

"She's going to sleep over at my place!" Harumin replied, that relentless stupid grin returning to her face. "We made a bet that if you bailed, we'd go back to my house after the dance, watch rom coms and eat ice cream!"

Yuzu gave her a smile of apology while grabbing the bag she hadn't noticed sitting by the end of the bed - the blonde's overnight items must already be stuffed inside.

"Sorry, Mei...but I'll see you tomorrow, k?"

She didn't respond to the apology, but only stared in surprise as the two girls left, listening to their giggles on the way to the front door.

That had been far more annoying than anticipated.

She didn't know why it irritated her _so much_ that Harumin had won that bet - and that the brunette was using it as another opportunity to have Yuzu spend the night with her. She didn't trust the girl - for as much as Harumin would pretend to help set Yuzu up with other boys, it was _Harumin_ herself who seemed to have more nefarious motives.

It was with gritted teeth that she sat back down at the desk, instinctually writing 'no' at the top of the next page without reading it.

She hated being played with - and it felt like Harumin was constantly toying with her, forcing her to partake in a game for Yuzu's affections.

A game she'd already won.

...or had she?

Can a 'special interest' group hold a parade on the lawns after school...NO.

Can the drama club have more money to build more elaborate sets...**NO**.

Can the choir hold extra practices in preparation for their upcoming show...N-

Oh, actually that was the first reasonable one she'd stumbled across tonight. Scratching out the knee jerk denial, she carefully wrote 'yes' at the top of the page and started a new stack for 'accepted requests.'

This was going to take forever. And while she was sitting here, issuing denial after denial to the various student groups at school, Yuzu would be off dancing with the boys Harumin set her up with - boys who would likely take far too much liberty looking down the girl's dress, or laying their hands upon her waist as they danced…

With a growl of frustration, she threw the pen down on the desk and buried her face in her palms - trying to control an influx of irritating emotions all coming to the surface at once.

First, the boys would be all over Yuzu. Then, _Harumin_ would be all over Yuzu. _Neither_ of which were remotely acceptable to her.

Another thought occurred to her then - something she couldn't believe she'd missed from earlier.

Yuzu had _already_ packed a bag.

Even though Yuzu had wagered on her behalf, the girl had expected to lose in the end.

Yuzu had expected her to break a promise.

The realization made her feel...not good.

She had fully planned to follow through on her promise when she'd made it, so how could Yuzu predict that she would break her word?

She had canceled on the girl an awful lot recently...but there was a lot of student council work to be done. And if it wasn't that, there was schoolwork that demanded her attention. There were always more pressing matters than -

Than paying attention to Yuzu?

A strange emotion began to take over her system at that moment, replacing the annoyance, confusion, anger, with something even more pungent - fear.

Fear that Yuzu had grown tired of her breaking her word, or not spending time with her, or treating her as a lower priority.

Fear of what might happen if someone else was there for the girl when she wasn't.

Standing from the desk, she strode quickly to the closet and searched through her clothes, looking for something she could wear to a dance.

She would just have to finish her work in the morning. There were...more important things to take care of tonight.

* * *

><p>It took her all of three seconds to decide high school dances were horrible.<p>

The auditorium was blasting music way too loud, there were balloons and streamers thrown everywhere, and this rather annoying boy asked her to dance the second she walked into the room.

And when she politely declined, he asked again.

She'd eventually given up on being polite and just walked away without another word, leaving him standing by the door in surprise.

She needed to find Yuzu though, and chatting with some obnoxious boy was not going to help with that.

She needed to show Yuzu that she'd come - she'd kept her promise - she'd even dressed up in a fancy black dress she'd last worn to some wedding she couldn't even remember.

Her eyes scanned the dance floor first, thankfully not finding the girl there. Next, she began looking through the tables set off towards the walls, occupied by many students either standing or sitting while sipping at their plastic cups filled with red punch.

Her initial sweep of the building yielded no results, so she looked again.

It shouldn't be _that_ hard to find the only girl with blonde hair.

The second pass through again yielded no blonde, but she did stumble across the blonde's friend.

Pushing through a small group of people, she ignored the surprised looks she received as she passed. Was it really that surprising that she would show up at a school function?

However, Harumin didn't seem surprised at all to see her - appearing much more amused than anything as she stalked right up to the girl's face, interrupting whatever conversation the girl had been holding with a group of four boys.

"Where's Yuzu?" she demanded, sending a glare towards one of the boys who was eyeing her a little too intently.

"Oh, I think she's spending some alone time with some cutie in homeroom," the girl responded. "If ya know what I mean."

She scowled when Harumin winked at her, anger beginning to boil over her worry from earlier.

"_Some_ boy?" she hissed. "Who?"

Harumin just laughed - as usual not intimidated in the least by her anger. Instead, the girl leaned close to her, close enough to whisper in her ear.

"Don't worry, Mei - I think he's a virgin."

Clenching her fists and her jaw, she somehow tempered the urge to spit some not so friendly words in the girl's face. Instead, she turned on her heel and tore out of the auditorium.

The sound of her heels rapidly clicking on the linoleum floor filled the empty halls as she made her way towards her destination.

There was no way Yuzu would do anything, right? The girl was still nearly inept at kissing _her_, how could she possibly partake in any intimacy with some stranger?

Although, maybe Yuzu _agreeing_ wouldn't necessarily be a problem for a more overpowering boy...

Well now she couldn't decide who she was going to kill first - this boy or Yuzu.

Their homeroom classroom was just up ahead...she slowed her pace incrementally as she approached - until she heard a very familiar laugh coming from inside.

Before she knew it, she was bursting through the doorway - throwing the door open so forcefully that it slammed against the wall with a startling 'bang.'

"What do you think you're - doing...?"

She's expected to catch Yuzu in some sort of compromising position after hearing that sound. She had _not_ expected to find the girl staring at her with wide eyes, sitting cross legged atop one of the desks while some immaculately dressed boy at on the desk across from her.

"Mei?" the girl said, voice filled with surprise. "You came?"

Taking a deep breath, she shuttered some of the valves pouring rage into her system before turning towards the boy.

"Get out."

He blinked at her tone in surprise, unmoving until she jerked her head towards the still open door.

"Get out - now."

Scrambling to his feet, he shot Yuzu one last glance before racing out the door. Sticking her head out into the hallway, she watched his retreat back towards the auditorium before shutting the door firmly behind him - not slamming it, but shutting it just loudly enough to voice her frustration.

Only then did she spin back towards Yuzu.

"What were you thinking - coming here _alone_ with that boy?" she asked, anger once again kicking into high gear.

Her tone was just as harsh as her words, causing Yuzu to look at her with an expression of hurt and confusion on her gorgeous face, but she couldn't stop there.

"Don't you realize what could have happened? Or is that just what you _wanted_?"

"M-Mei!"

"If you're that _desperate_ for attention, you should have said something."

She looked away when Yuzu stared at her - she really couldn't stand looking into Yuzu's eyes, sometimes.

"We were just talking!" the blonde finally said in her defense. "I was pretty sad when we got here since you couldn't come, so Harumin introduced us and we hit it off."

Harumin.

"Well if that's the case, I should bring him back here so you two can _hit it off_ some more. And maybe you should _lock the door_ so no one _interrupts_ you."

Her words came out as a sneer, but she was beyond angry now.

What was Yuzu saying? That Mei wasn't good enough for her anymore? Or that she could be replaced by some _boy_ Yuzu had never met before?

It wasn't as if she had _died_. She'd just been at home working! And it wasn't like she didn't have a _cell phone _that Yuzu could have messaged her on. Or maybe that privilege was for Harumin only.

"Mei?"

Yuzu was standing now, walking slowly towards her like someone trying not to startle off a scared animal. The hurt expression was completely gone, replaced by concern and...caring.

This always happened. Yuzu could somehow always tell when she was upset about something much bigger than what she was saying.

And, no matter what hurtful things she said, Yuzu would always forget them in order to make her feel better.

Just like that, her anger disintegrated, left with the empty desire to appear strong, while she was actually quite weak.

"If you want to see other people…"

Her words were quiet - defeated - her last ditch effort at being cold and uncaring about the situation.

"Mei!" Yuzu grabbed her shoulders and shook gently, forcing her to look up. "I don't want to see other people! I only want to see you!"

"You...do?" she asked dumbly - the words making her feel better, as they always did.

"Of course! I would never want anyone else. You're the one I…"

The girl suddenly stopped speaking, flushing deep red at the admission that had nearly slipped out. Long ago, she'd learned that those thoughts were always the most exhilarating to hear, if she could get the blonde to spill them.

"I'm the one you...what?" she pried, taking one step closer in an effort to lower the girl's resolve with their proximity.

Yuzu tried not to make eye contact, jumping when she put both hands around the blonde's wrists.

"You're the one I...dream...about…"

She didn't allow herself to smile, not wanting the girl to know exactly how many butterflies the statement released into her chest. But she did immediately reward the girl with a kiss - pulling Yuzu forward by the wrists and crashing their lips forcefully together.

Communicating like this was much easier for her than using words...allowing her to share emotions rather than thoughts directly with Yuzu and never worrying about a misunderstanding.

It would work even better if the blonde could carry a kiss for more than a few minutes before dissolving into a pool of water, but the girl was still working on that.

When she released Yuzu's lips and took a step away, she watched in satisfaction as the blonde slowly returned from the temporary, kissing-induced coma. Her own emotions were now remarkably calm, minus the pounding of her heart and desire burning in her chest.

She felt like more like herself again, which was always a good thing. Although, every kiss she shared with Yuzu seemed to rub away a fraction of an inch of the wall she was capable of projecting around herself. It might take a long time to wear through, but the work was certainly well underway.

"Yuzu, I'm...I apologize...for nearly breaking my promise," she said, wrinkling her nose at how the words sounded coming from her mouth.

"You're here now, aren't you?"

As always, Yuzu granted her forgiveness so easily - something she unfortunately took advantage more often than not. But, she would make it all up to the girl, one day, when she was able to.

"You know," the girl added with a giggle, "I couldn't date him even if I wanted to - he's gay."

"What?" she asked, allowing the blonde to take one of her hands tenderly.

"Yeah, Harumin told me he's gay. Apparently she tried to get a date with him but he was already seeing someone else. A _male_ someone else."

_Harumin_ - playing her tricks, as usual.

She was going to strangle that girl the next time she saw her.

Reaching down, she grabbed ahold of Yuzu's other hand and began dragging the girl back towards the door.

"Come on, Yuzu, let's go home."

"But the -"

"I'm not going to do any work tonight and I'd rather spend the time alone with you than here with all these people," she interrupted. "We can...watch a movie and...eat ice cream."

The prospect sounded entirely unappealing to her, but just a second of Yuzu's glowing smile was more than enough to make her turn away.

Maybe she and Yuzu could also do a little more...communicating...during the movie.

That would certainly make her feel better after this night that had gone not at all according to plan.


	17. The Words of a Stranger

**So, I had kinda sworn off Citrus the last few chapters due to..well, you all understand - you went through the pain, too! I had no plans of writing any Citrus fics until I happened to read two updates from lordofthelesbians and she convinced me (twisted my arm, I tell ya) to catch up on the chapters.**

**Anyway, that then inspired me to write this! And, I might have another one planned...maybe...because this isn't very fluffy, and Citrus fans are always in dire need of fluff.**

* * *

><p>The train station was crowded at this time in the afternoon, passengers hastily boarding and departing the long train cars that were lining the tracks. Businessmen and women were headed in every direction as everyone set off for their own destinations, intent upon following their own agendas through to completion.<p>

Normally, it wasn't very difficult to navigate the swarms of people in the station. She'd learned how to quickly and effectively squeeze through the invisible seams in the flow of traffic, making it to her own destination faster than most.

Of course, normally she was alone.

"Yuzu, hurry up."

For a brief moment, she considered not stopping when she noticed the blonde crouch down in the middle of the station floor in order to tie a shoe...but as the swarms of people immediately blocked Yuzu from view, she thought better of it. The last thing they needed was to get separated - then she would have to spend the next half hour searching for the girl.

It had happened before.

"I told you to tie them more carefully," she directed down at the girl, tapping one foot impatiently while the blonde tied one shoe, then slowly untied and re-tied the other before finally popping back up.

"I did! These laces are just really crappy - they kinda untie themselves!"

She remained impassive in the face of Yuzu's wide grin, fighting to maintain her grasp of that seed of annoyance she'd been harboring towards their current situation.

But...as usual...she could feel that irritation quickly abating - replaced by that uncomfortable fluttering in her chest the blonde always seemed to elicit.

Ultimately choosing to ignore both the fluttering and the blonde's response, she turned away - back towards the station's exit.

"Come on. We're late."

When _wasn't _she late when Yuzu was with her. The girl had the inenviable ability to be late to _everything_. Literally everything. Even if the blonde had the best intentions of being early, she still somehow ended up being late.

If this skill had been reversed, it would have been incredibly impressive. But, since it wasn't, it was just plain bothersome.

Especially when it meant that Mei was running late whenever the two of them were together.

Of course, they weren't _actually_ late. They were just later than she _wanted _to be.

All she needed to do was make two simple stops for Student Council work - the first to pick up the finished invitations for the alumni dinner that would be hosted in a few weeks, and the second to drop off said invitations at Himeko's so the girl could address and stuff the envelopes.

She would have been completely fine running these errands alone, but Yuzu had wanted to come with her. And she would have (she actually _had_) turned down the offer, but the girl had then pouted and said something about how they haven't spent enough time together recently, what with Mei being so busy planning the 'stupid dinner for stupid old people.'

After she'd explained, _again_, that without alumni donations many of their school's clubs would cease to exist, Yuzu had done that thing where she suddenly becomes all understanding of Mei's responsibility as Student Council President. The blonde had apologized for being 'needy' and spouted all this garble about supporting her and her work and just wanting Mei to be happy.

Why that always made her feel guilty in return, she had yet to figure out.

But it did.

And she'd felt bad.

It wasn't as if she didn't _want_ to spend time with Yuzu, but she had other responsibilities that always seemed to get in the way. Whenever it seemed like the two of them could have a quiet evening together, her phone would ring with some school emergency to attend to.

So...she'd agreed that Yuzu could join her.

But now she was beginning to wonder if she'd actually agreed or if she'd just gone temporarily insane.

After it had taken Yuzu a lightyear to get dressed, they'd missed the train Mei had planned on taking downtown to the printer the school had settled upon for the invitations. And then the whole shoe tying debacle…

"Hey, Mei, do you think we can get something to eat when we're done running around?"

"Maybe."

She kept her eyes trained forward as they walked towards the exit of the station, knowing that if she took one glance at Yuzu her irritation would begin to fade.

That was another rather annoying quality Yuzu possessed. It was like the mere image of the girl's face melted anger. Which, in and of itself, was quite frustrating to deal with.

Thankfully, she'd never met anyone else who had that effect on her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be nearly as successful at running the academy as she had been.

"Oh, look!"

This time, she audibly sighed in exasperation when Yuzu rushed off after whatever bright, shiny object had caught her stupidly pretty green eyes this time.

As she stopped walking, she stomped one foot down rather forcefully - the sound echoing a little loudly against the hard floor as her agitation shone through.

But again, as she watched the blonde carefully scoop an old, tattered book off the nearby bench, she felt a little portion of her previous frustration fade - marveling at how something so dirty and insignificant had actually been important enough for the girl to stop and retrieve it.

"Someone must have left it behind," Yuzu mused thoughtfully, brow furrowed as the girl flipped the book over again and again in her slender hands.

It would have been nice to stand there and stare at this 'treasure' forever, but they had other places to be.

Only _two_ stops. That was it. And then they could spend the rest of the day collecting pieces of junk from wherever they could find them.

"We'll take it to the lost and found," she said, begrudgingly noticing that her tone had lost most of the forceful edge it usually possessed.

"But the lost and found is on the other side of the station," Yuzu replied, falling into step beside her as they continued their walk out of the wide tunnel towards the world outside.

"Then we'll take it on the way home," she replied, turning her gaze towards the rays of sunlight that were beginning to appear in front of them.

Yuzu didn't respond as they stepped out onto the main road, immediately caught up in a cross current of foot traffic as pedestrians tried to avoid the passengers exiting the train station. Reaching backward, she grabbed Yuzu's hand and pulled the girl through the throngs of people until they had reached a less congested section of sidewalk.

Only then did she release Yuzu, wondering to herself how she'd managed to instantly find the girl's hand without even turning around.

Maybe that was just another one of those _things_ - where she somehow knew where Yuzu was without even looking. It was almost as if there was some sort of sixth sense in her body, operating without her knowledge, that was able to pinpoint the blonde's location with startling accuracy.

The Yuzu locator, she'd dubbed it. And then un-dubbed it, because it was ridiculous to think she possessed a sense that operated only for one person.

Speaking of Yuzu...the blonde had remained awfully silent ever since they'd exited the station.

Turning to the side as they walked down the mostly empty sidewalks, she wasn't at all surprised to find the blonde had her nose stuck in the old book they'd picked up - the girl not even paying attention to where she was walking as wide eyes soaked up every word on the page.

"What are you doing?" she asked, drawing that emerald gaze away from the book in a heartbeat.

Which only made _her_ heart beat faster - flattered that the girl would so easily drop something she was clearly engrossed with just to pay attention to her.

She'd always been told that she had a commanding presence - that people _should_ be looking to her for direction - but Yuzu didn't operate in that way. Yuzu was...easily distracted and not prone to listening to authority.

And it was for those very same reasons that the way the blonde would become so easily enraptured by her made her feel...somehow different.

Yuzu wasn't looking at her in that way because Mei was an authority figure - someone to respect and listen to.

It was something else entirely...

"It's someone's journal, Mei!" the girl told her giddily, eyes sparkling with unconcealed excitement.

"You shouldn't read someone else's journal," she immediately replied, turning away. "It's an invasion of privacy."

"B-but I don't even know him!" Yuzu sputtered in her defense, taking a few quick steps to catch up with her on the sidewalk. "It's more like reading a book - I'm allowed to read someone else's book, right?"

Her silence was supposed to say that no, that was not ok, but the girl clearly didn't take it that way.

"Anyway, he's totally in love with this girl, Shelby. It's so adorable!"

Yuzu was practically skipping beside her now, arms swinging happily the entire time.

"He just sent her flowers for her birthday and he's not sure if it was too much or not," the girl continued. "I don't even think he realizes how he feels for her yet, but it's _so_ obvious by the way he describes things."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

She didn't necessarily want to _encourage_ this type of behavior, but the conversation was making Yuzu subconsciously match her pace - allowing them to make up for the time lost back in the train station.

"Well like, listen to this," Yuzu responded happily, holding the book up in front of her face in order to read - clearly not caring if she walked straight into a sign post or not.

Which the blonde would have, had Mei not reached out and grabbed an elbow to redirect the girl at the last second.

"_I told the flower shop to send her lilies - her favorite flower - and to wrap them in purple ribbon - her favorite color. They would be beautiful, but would still pale in comparison to her. But she should be the most beautiful thing in the room - it was her birthday, after all."_

Snapping the journal shut, Yuzu let out a soft sigh of...longing.

"He sounds obsessed," she stated calmly, eyes pinpointing the awning of the print shop up ahead.

"Isn't that what love is?" the blonde responded in that airy, day-dreamy tone Mei caught her using every once in awhile.

The question gave her pause, her steps faltering for a split second before she continued on as if nothing had happened.

Was that what love was supposed to be? Obsession?

If that was the case, why would anyone ever want to fall in love? Obsessions only clouded the mind and caused people to not think clearly - to make decisions they otherwise wouldn't have in a sole effort to feed their compulsion.

That just didn't seem healthy.

"Wait here. I won't be long."

Receiving Yuzu's nod of agreement at the order, she opened the door to the small print shop and strode inside, turning back towards the store's window just to confirm that the blonde had immediately resumed reading the journal in her short absence.

Shaking her head, she erased the small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she turned back towards the front counter - where a tall, older gentlemen was watching her patiently.

"Mei Aihara," she introduced herself as she strode purposefully forward. "I'm here to pick up -"

"A set of invitations, yes!" the man interrupted her, turning and walking back amongst the disorganized shelves filling the space behind the counter. "I put them right…here!"

Pulling down a large box, about the size of two shoeboxes stacked on top of one another, he set it down on the countertop with a light thump. Pulling out one of the printed cards, he handed it over for her to view and approve.

"You have perfect timing - I just finished them!" he told her with a big smile that she returned with a polite one of her own.

Apparently, if she'd arrived any earlier, she would have been forced to wait, anyway…so maybe it hadn't been _that_ terrible that Yuzu had been moving so slowly...

"These look lovely," she replied after looking carefully at the words typed inside - searching for any typos or grammatical errors, but thankfully finding none.

"Great, let me just ring these up for you…" the man said, pulling a pair of glasses from somewhere underneath the ancient cash register and setting them on the bridge of his nose in order to squint at the machine.

While he was struggling to figure out how to use his own cash register, her gaze drifted out the front window - where she found Yuzu leaning with one shoulder pressed against the glass, eyes still glued to the open journal.

The girl had the silliest expression on her face - one that Mei could remember seeing a few times when they'd watched one of those cheesy romantic comedies together.

Yuzu...liked...that sort of thing. The hopeless romance, the loud proclamations of love, the 'cute' dates and whispers of affection…

Realizing this, which she did every so often, always made her feel...off...in a way. Maybe it was because she could say with absolute confidence that she was the exact opposite of all those things, so why would -

"Ah! There we go - it'll be just $35 today, Miss Aihara."

Spinning back to the man, she pulled out the appropriate amount of money with which to pay before accepting the large box that was pushed across the counter towards her.

"Thank you," she said while picking up the box, finding that it was moderately heavy, but certainly not unbearable.

"Need any help?" he offered as she turned back to the front door.

"No, thank you."

Shifting the box to one arm, she used her free hand to open the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk - her presence immediately drawing Yuzu back out of the diary.

"Still reading, are you?" she asked while walking in the opposite direction, knowing that Yuzu would catch up with her.

And catch up, she did - the blonde jogging several steps before falling into step at Mei's side.

"Do you need any help with that?" the girl offered, pointing towards the box in her arms.

"I'm fine," she responded, only recognizing how curt the response was when Yuzu's lips curled in a miniscule frown of hurt feelings.

"I mean, thank you, but it's not that heavy," she corrected, uncomfortable with the pseudo apology.

But, just like that, the frown disappeared - replaced by a bright smile.

"Ok, lemme know if it gets too heavy!" the girl replied, happy once again. "But yes, I'm still reading. It's sooo good, Mei. You have to read it!"

Rolling her eyes at the words, she made a right turn at the next intersection that would lead them towards Himeko's house. The girl had offered to pick up the invitations, but Mei had wanted to see the final product herself before they were mailed out.

"You _do _realize that you have to return it, don't you?" she asked dryly.

"Oh…"

Yuzu remained downcast for no more than a half second at that realization before cheering back up.

"Well then I'll just have to tell you what happened!" the girl replied, linking one arm with her own as they walked the path towards Himeko's mansion.

The contact was innocent enough to be viewed as purely friendly to passerby, but she knew that it was more than that. Yuzu had grown bolder ever since...things changed between them. These fleeting gestures happened more frequently and lasted much longer.

Whether intentional or not, it served as a small reminder of the way the girl felt for her. Which was...soothing, in a way.

Of course, she would never tell Yuzu that.

"So she loved the flowers - obviously, what girl doesn't like flowers?" Yuzu commented as they strolled down the sidewalk, this time at a much more leisurely pace than earlier.

Himeko's house wasn't far, and she felt in much less of a hurry now that she'd gotten the invitations and everything was in order. Plus, she wished to extend this moment for a little longer - to be linked arm-in-arm for a moment longer.

Which was really a foolish reason to waste time dawdling down the sidewalk, but she decided that, this time, she was going to do it anyway. If only so that Yuzu could fill her in on the story and get out more of that bubbly energy the blonde never seemed to be without.

"They go to dinner later and run into one of her ex-boyfriends. And _that's_ when he finally realizes that he'd fallen in love with her."

"Because he got jealous?" she asked, causing Yuzu to give her a look of surprise that told her the blonde hadn't expected her to actually be paying attention.

But she always paid attention to what Yuzu said...sometimes she just chose to ignore whatever it was the girl was talking about.

"Yeah, actually, that's exactly what happened," Yuzu finally answered after the shock had worn off. "He wrote that he got super jealous and just left Shelby at the restaurant with the guy."

She nodded her head at that answer.

Avoidance. The classic response to being in that sort of situation - overwhelmed by feelings he'd never even realized he'd had, not knowing how to acknowledge let alone handle them appropriately...

"And right now, he's avoiding her because he doesn't know what else to do. It kinda sounds like he's just locked himself up in his apartment."

Letting out a soft 'hmm' of understanding, she nodded towards the call button on the large, wrought iron gate they'd been walking past for the last few moments - the long partition sectioning Himeko's home off from the rest of the world.

The call box let off a short buzz when Yuzu obediently pressed the button with one finger.

"Mei Mei!" immediately came the excited voice from the staticky speaker.

"Hello, Himeko," she directed towards the box, leaning towards it at the same moment. "I have the invitations - may we come in?"

"'We?'"

"Yes, Yuzu came with me," she answered shortly, instantly becoming impatient with holding a conversation through this tiny little box.

As a long buzz rang through the gate, which began opening automatically for them, she ignored the soft grumbles still emitting from the speaker.

When the gate was open wide enough for her to slide through, she slipped past with Yuzu right on her heels. They walked quickly up the marbled path to the towering front door - the door which opened right as they neared it.

"Mei!" Himeko called out as soon as the door was open, a smile lighting up her face before it became more of a sulk aimed at Yuzu.

"Yuzu."

"Hey, Himeko," Yuzu replied distractedly, eyes roaming around the grand entryway behind Himeko's back.

The blonde had been to Himeko's house before, so most of the extravagance had lost its initial 'wow' factor, but she could still tell that Yuzu wanted to touch everything in sight.

Thankfully, the girl was sometimes able to control those compulsive urges.

"Come on in."

They strode inside when Himeko backed away from the door, waiting patiently in the foyer while their host shut the door and took the box of invitations from her arms.

She immediately noticed the hurt expression Yuzu shot her way - the blonde clearly upset that Mei had allowed Himeko to carry the box when she'd turned down Yuzu's offer earlier.

Which was just...silly. She hadn't allowed Yuzu to carry the invitations because she didn't want to burden the girl with the weight. Because if Yuzu were carrying something heavy, _she_ would offer to hold it for the girl.

She didn't mind if she burdened Himeko with the invitations. In fact, she almost expected the girl to carry them for her.

There was _no_ need for her to feel apologetic about this - since Yuzu was simply misconstruing what had just occurred. But she still felt the _need_ to, if only to wipe the expression of betrayal from the blonde's features.

She resisted the urge to let out an audible sigh.

The things she did for this girl, sometimes...frivolous and pointless...

As they followed Himeko to one of the downstairs living rooms where guests were entertained, she placed one hand gently on the small of Yuzu's back - guiding the girl through the halls while at the same time trying to express an apology that was, in her mind, entirely unnecessary - but necessary, all the same.

It worked - the blonde relaxing into the palm of her hand as if they'd been molded to fit perfectly together.

It was rather nonsensical...how such a simple gesture could work wonders like that. It made her feel like she had an expanse of powers at her disposal, but she was currently without the knowledge of how to use them.

Walking into the large living room, she dropped her hand at the same moment Himeko set the box onto the nearest table - the girl pulling off the lid to take a look at the invitations herself.

"You can sit down, if you'd like," Himeko said distractedly, waving towards the seats behind them.

Yuzu took the offer immediately, walking over to the nearest sofa and plopping down on it like it was her own - crossing her legs, leaning back, and opening the journal once more.

Preferring to remain standing, she walked over to Himeko and took another look at the invitation held in the girl's hands.

"They look good," she commented, eyes flitting quickly to Yuzu before coming back again.

"They really do!" Himeko agreed, flipping the card open to read what was written inside.

"Awwww!"

They both turned towards the girl sitting on the sofa, who paid them no attention since she was still engrossed in someone else's life story.

"Is she...reading?" Himeko asked, turning to her with a puzzled expression.

"She...found...something she likes," she answered, giving Yuzu a hint of a smile when the girl glanced up and caught her eyes.

It was strange to see Yuzu reading something besides a fashion magazine...but it was a little...endearing...how much the blonde was enjoying the story.

Turning back to Himeko, she was all business - pushing those fuzzy feelings for the blonde back where they belonged.

"I need you to add these people to the list," she instructed, pulling a piece of folded paper from her pocket and handing it over to the girl. "They aren't alumni, but are still supporters of the school."

The girl nodded her head as she took the paper and unfolded it, eyes quickly scanning the names written there.

"Can you -"

They both turned back towards Yuzu when the blonde let out another soft 'aww' that could only be described as gushing with happiness. Yuzu then closed the journal and laid it across her chest - apparently trying to absorb the story into her very heart.

"Can you get these ready to be mailed Monday?" she finished, turning back towards her Vice President, determined to finish this official business as quickly as possible now that Yuzu had finished her story.

"Of course!" Himeko answered with a grin, as competent as ever. "But you know, if you wanted to stay and help -"

"Sorry, I already have plans," she replied, cutting the girl off before the invitation could even be fully extended. "Thank you, Himeko - I'll see you on Monday. Come on, Yuzu."

The blonde popped off the couch with a small jump, sending Himeko a friendly wave before they made their way out of the elegant mansion.

"So what happened?" she asked as they passed through the front door.

"What?"

"The story - how did it end?" she clarified, pointing towards the tattered book clutched in Yuzu's hand.

"Oh! Oh my god, Mei, it was so cute, but also so sad," the girl gushed. "He was avoiding her for several days, so she came over to his apartment and confessed _her_ feelings!"

"Really?"

Well, that was fortunate for the poor man - who probably never would have worked up the courage to say something himself.

"Yeah! He was so surprised. After that, the journal entries were really short and spaced far apart - it seemed like he was too busy spending time with her to sit down and write anymore. The last entry was so...it was sad, but also - he really loves her so that's cute. See, listen."

Yuzu opened the journal and flipped through a few pages before finding the one she wanted.

"_I'm not worthy of her love, yet somehow...she loves me. When I tried to mention this to her one time, she just laughed, as if that were the silliest thing in the world to think. But the feeling still remains. Each day I try to be a better person, so that I can somehow feel worthy of the beautiful woman who stands beside me. It's now my greatest fear that one day...one day she'll wake up and realize that I'm just as awful as I think I am. That she'll leave me. And that would be...the very worst thing that could happen to me."_

"_I never thought that being with the one you love could be so torturous."_

"How sad is that?" Yuzu asked, sighing as she let the journal fall back to her side.

Sad? Maybe...but all Mei heard were her own thoughts, her own feelings coming directly out of Yuzu's mouth.

What could Yuzu possibly see in her? Sure, people told her that she was smart and pretty. And she came from a wealthy family. But beyond that...what was there to love about her? Her walls were high and nearly unscalable - too daunting a task for the faint of heart to attempt to climb.

On the other hand, Yuzu was...well maybe the blonde wasn't the smartest, the prettiest, or the wealthiest person in the world, but Yuzu was...there was something _special_ about her. The blonde lived freely, wanting nothing more than to be happy - and for those around her to be happy, as well.

Yuzu was kind, warm, and generous - everything Mei was not.

Yuzu was the type of person who deserved to be rewarded for her kindness in the form of someone who spoiled the girl - who sent her flowers wrapped in her favorite colors if only to prove that they _knew_ what her favorite things were.

Someone who was _obsessed_ with her. Who went out of their way to make themselves uncomfortable just to make the blonde smile.

"He makes a good point -" she began to say as they walked towards the busier section of downtown.

"No, he doesn't!" Yuzu instantly argued, the blonde surprising her with the certainty of those words. "She loves him, and that's it! He just can't see all the things she loves him for!"

"But maybe he really isn't worthy of her love."

"That's not a thing," Yuzu answered defiantly. "Everyone is worthy of love - most people just can't see the good in themselves that everyone else can."

Opening her mouth to respond, she found that she had no words to say.

It wasn't very often that Yuzu spoke so confidently - as if the blonde possessed wisdom far beyond their meager years.

But it was these rare instances that she found herself wanting nothing more than to believe in what the girl said - to blindly trust that Yuzu knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Uh, where are we going, anyway?" Yuzu suddenly asked, stopping and looking around them in confusion.

"I thought you wanted to get something to eat," she replied, pausing on the sidewalk, as well. "Don't you like that sushi place a few blocks over?"

The question made her feel inexplicably disappointed in herself - that she couldn't definitively say whether or not Yuzu liked the restaurant she was already leading them towards. Meanwhile, journal man had known his crush's favorite flower and color for no reason at all.

"Oh, yeah! I love that place!"

The answer made her better in an instant.

Apparently, she wasn't _that_ horrible about learning Yuzu's favorite things. Although, in her defense, the blonde got awfully excited about a _lot_ of different things.

"By the way, Yuzu," she said, growing more and more uncomfortable as she thought about the words she was going to attempt to say out loud - undoubtedly prompted by some pseudo-competition with some man she would never meet. "I would...probably get up and leave too if I were faced with having dinner with you and one of your ex-boyfriends."

That was probably as close as she would ever come to admitting that that particular situation would fill her with jealousy. That the very _thought_ of Yuzu talking, giggling, or _touching_ another person - _especially_ some boy - made her stomach queasy and her hands tremble with anger.

"Ah, then we'd better pick a different restaurant - I think one of them just got a job there!"

Her feet froze to the sidewalk as she turned to face the blonde, the aforementioned anger and queasiness already beginning to make a rapid appearance.

"What," she said, voice nothing more than a whisper.

Yuzu instantly backpedaled at the tone, waving her hands through the air as if that could erase what had just been said.

"I'm totally kidding, Mei!" the girl said quickly. "So totally kidding! I don't even _have_ an ex-boyfriend you could run into!"

Yuzu covered her mouth with both hands as soon as the words slipped out, cheeks flushing scarlet red at the secret that had just been spilled.

Whatever scowl had been on her face instantly disappeared, replaced by a brief moment of utter confusion.

But, the more she thought about it, she realized that Yuzu had never explicitly mentioned any previous relationships. She'd always just assumed...because of the way Yuzu dressed and behaved...and the way men on the street would stare at the blonde…

When she realized the incorrect assumption she'd made, she smiled in relief - relief that extended far beyond their current conversation.

"Come on, let's eat," she said instead of commenting on Yuzu's secret, grabbing ahold of the girl's hand to lead her towards the bright blue awning standing out in the sea of dull gray lining the street.

Walking up to the door, she pulled it open and held it for Yuzu to enter before her.

Thankfully, the restaurant wasn't too busy at that particular moment - allowing the host to take them to a small table right away.

They'd barely sat down before Yuzu had the menu propped open on the edge of the table, eyes scanning the pages in search of the perfect thing to order. For her part, she took her time with the menu, already knowing what she would order - her taste for sushi didn't change much from restaurant to restaurant, after all.

"I hope you didn't mind the errands," she spoke evenly, watching the blonde closely for her reaction.

"Oh, no, this was actually a lot of fun - thanks to this guy!" Yuzu replied cheerfully, patting the diary sitting on the edge of the table. "Plus, I like spending time with you, Mei. Doesn't really matter what we're doing."

As usual, the girl gave her such an honestly flattering answer...one that made her feel wholly unworthy of even sitting at this table.

Their waiter saved her from having to formulate an appropriate response - mercifully appearing to take their order at that instant. And as soon as the man had rushed away, Yuzu stood from the table.

"I'll be right back - just gonna use the restroom," the girl told her before running off towards the back of the building.

Drumming her fingers on the table for a few seconds, she finally decided to reach over and pick up the journal from where Yuzu had left it. She had some time - Yuzu would be fussing over her hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror before coming back, anyway.

Not that the blonde didn't look just as fantastic as she had when they'd left the house earlier that day.

Flipping quickly through the pages, she found the entire thing to be handwritten - decent handwriting, too. But only the first half of the diary had been used. The rest were just blank pages, never touched or written upon.

Finding the end of the story, she continued flipping even further, watching the blank, lined pages flash before her eyes.

That's when she spotted something - something that disappeared before her brain even had a chance to fully recognize its presence.

Slowing turning back the pages one at a time, she found what she'd just missed - a single page hidden within the blank ones containing several lines of writing.

Eyes flicking quickly towards the restroom, she turned back to the book to quickly read what Yuzu had missed.

_I just found this journal in the attic while searching for something. It's been years since I've even seen this - I can't believe I still have it. _

_It's been ten years since I wrote in here last. Ten years filled with...what else to say, but love and happiness. I reread what I'd written, and how I'd ended the story with the word 'torturous.' Today, that seems so absurd - to describe love as torturous._

_Shelby and I are still together, and now I understand that she'll never leave me, just like I'll never leave her. She sees in me something I cannot see in myself, but I've learned to accept that I never will. And that's ok. It's ok to not understand why - that's how love is. It just works and you can never quite figure out the reason why._

_Once you figure out that you'll _never _figure it out, you can relax and enjoy wherever it takes you._

_That's what I did - and there hasn't been one day I regretted it._

Abruptly closing the journal, she hastily set it back exactly where it had been - just seconds before spotting Yuzu skipping back from the restroom.

"Alright," the girl said while retaking her seat, picking the napkin off of the table and placing it back over her lap just as the server appeared with their plates overloaded with food. "Oh yum - this all looks so good!"

"It does," she agreed, picking up her set of chopsticks as Yuzu did the same.

She watched closely as the blonde picked up the first piece of fish and stuck it in her mouth, making a 'mmm' noise in pleasure at the taste.

Yuzu was...difficult...sometimes. Irresponsible, compulsive, airy, _always_ late, way too emotional, not to mention excitable.

But, in spite of all that, Yuzu was the one person she felt comfortable with beyond all others. The one person she'd allowed past her walls.

And it _didn't_ make sense. It never had. Of all the people in the world - why had it been Yuzu who had accomplished something others could not?

If she was to take the words of this journal seriously, she would never know the answer to that question. She was doomed to a lifetime of not understanding what Yuzu had found in her that transcended appearances - and thus not knowing what it was that made Yuzu stay.

Because she wanted the blonde to stay. If she knew nothing else, she was sure of that single fact.

Maybe that meant she would have to do things that made her uncomfortable. Or accept that she would never truly understand the reasons why.

And maybe...maybe she was willing to do that - for Yuzu.

"Yuzu…" she said, drawing the girl's attention immediately away from the plate of food, feeling her heart flutter when green eyes gazed at her intently.

"Yeah, Mei?"

"...what's your favorite color?"


	18. Positive Reinforcement

**This one is also lordofthelesbians' influence. I realized after writing the last one that that's not at all what Citrus fans want! As nice and lovey dovey as it was.**

**Oh, which means this is a little more mature. I don't think it's enough to deserve a rating change but if anyone has an issue with it, PM me and I can change it.**

* * *

><p>The sun had already sunk well below the horizon by the time she walked away from the school grounds - another day of grueling Student Council work having succeeded in keeping her there long after hours.<p>

The last few days had been more taxing than usual, but today...today had been just plain frustrating.

Who knew that there could be so many _little_ problems that needed to be fixed...and that apparently she was the _only _one capable of fixing them?

Or, if there wasn't a problem, there was something to be complained about. Or more money being requested for frivolous matters. Or some special exception that needed to be granted.

Gritting her teeth as irritation returned full force, she spurred her legs to move faster as she made her way to the train station - wanting nothing more than to make it home, change out of her school uniform, and take a nice long, hot bath to relieve some of the tension.

Then she could wake up tomorrow and do this all over again.

Slipping onto the next train right as the doors were about to close, she took the empty seat nearest the exit for the short ride to her stop.

One of the nice things about going home this late was that there were very few passengers to contend with, and many more open spaces for her to sit.

Silver linings, as Yuzu would call them.

The blonde's name brought an image of the girl to the forefront of her mind, causing her heart to stutter step in the most embarrassing manner.

Yuzu should also be home by now...unless the girl had decided to spend the night at Harumin's _again_. Hopefully, that wasn't the case - because if Yuzu was at home, Mei would modify her plans for the evening and the blonde could help her...blow off some steam.

That actually sounded like the best possible way to end this day.

Seeing her stop race into view, she stood before the train had even begun to slow down, waiting impatiently for the doors to open and release her onto the quiet neighborhood streets where she lived.

When the doors finally opened, she was the first one off the train, readjusting her bag strap on her shoulder while hastening down the sidewalk towards the modest apartment she now called home.

A few short blocks later and she was rushing up the front steps - the key in her hand opening the front door and allowing her to walk into the slightly too warm interior. After closing the door and making certain to relock it, she removed her shoes and walked further into the home.

From the hour, she knew that she'd already missed dinner. Passing through the empty kitchen, it smelled like Yuzu had made fried rice - one of her favorites.

Poking her head into the living room, she found her step-mother sitting on the sofa with the television blaring loudly towards them - some drama show the woman never missed.

"I'm home," she said, the woman turning around with a bright smile that only further reminded her of the girl she was hoping would be waiting for her in their room.

"Another late night! They sure keep you working hard...there's leftovers in the fridge, if you're hungry."

"Thank you, I'll come down and eat later," she replied cordially, turning away from the living room and making her way towards her bedroom.

Her shared bedroom.

The door was closed, which gave her hope that maybe Yuzu was there - just inside the door, lounging on the bed while reading anything but schoolwork.

There would be _no_ better way to blow off some of this irritation than by spending a little...quality time...with the blonde.

Her heart was already racing from the prospect of it.

Pushing the door open, she swiftly closed it as soon as she'd stepped inside, one hand deftly locking the door knob without even turning around. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, heart sinking when she found it to be completely empty.

That's when the bathroom door opened, sending relief coursing through her veins - _knowing_ that she was seconds away from working out _some_ of the agitation the day had left her with.

Yuzu walked out of the bathroom running a towel through damp hair, dressed in the soft, loosely fitted pajamas that secretly drove Mei crazy.

"Mei!" Yuzu exclaimed happily, green eyes and bright smile finding her in a heartbeat. "You're home la-"

She cut off the blonde's words with a forceful kiss, hands grabbing Yuzu's slender wrists before pushing the girl back onto the bed - making sure to gently climb on top of the blonde so as not to hurt her, but also maintaining a firm grip on arms that might try to break away from her grasp.

Before Yuzu's back even hit their soft covers, she'd deepened the kiss, pressing her tongue into the girl's mouth to taste the minty flavor of whatever toothpaste the blonde had just used.

Only when she was positive that Yuzu wasn't going to wriggle away did she release the girl's arms - wishing to free her own hands so they could travel along smooth skin she'd memorized long ago. They ran hungrily along the body she knew _exactly_ what to expect from - one that wouldn't frustrate or agitate her, but would soothe her with the way it responded to her every touch, no matter how light or fleeting.

A few more furious kisses and she released Yuzu's lips, trailing kisses down the girl's neck, sucking and biting at the tender skin there - resisting the urge to leave a trail of red marks marking her territory.

"M-Mei?"

She ignored the blonde's whisper, deciding that she would leave a few marks - Yuzu would just have to wear a high collar to school tomorrow.

Or not. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't a _little_ arousing to catch a glimpse of those bruises - marks _she'd_ left behind - whenever the blonde tilted her head the perfect way during class.

The thought made her bite down a little too hard, causing the girl beneath her to let out a small gasp that sounded like a mixture of pain and pleasure.

"M-Mei - what's gotten into you?" Yuzu asked again, squirming far too much for her taste.

"I had - a rough day -" she murmured before crashing their lips back together, savoring the scent of strawberries drifting from the girl's still damp hair as she slipped one hand underneath Yuzu's shirt, sliding one palm across a soft, flat stomach.

Suddenly, she found herself pushed up and away from Yuzu's lips as a force was applied to her shoulders.

Now separated from her muse, she glanced down to find Yuzu's hands pressed against her, creating an artificial amount of space in between them. The sight filled her with confusion - unsure as to why her surefire method of stress relief had unexpectedly been taken away from her.

"Yuzu -?"

"Tell me about it."

The words made her blink in surprise.

"What?"

"_Tell me_ about it -" Yuzu repeated, a small grin lighting up her face. "Your day - tell me why it was rough."

"...what?"

That was one question she'd _never_ been asked before - she didn't even know how to answer it if she had wanted to.

Which she didn't. She didn't want to _talk_. She wanted to -

God, things were so damn difficult with Yuzu sometimes.

"Yuzu -" she began sternly, attempting to lean back for another kiss only to be held at bay.

"_Why_ was it a bad day?"

Scowling at the repeated question, she lifted off of Yuzu's palms, swung her legs to the floor and stood up - having every intent to walk into the bathroom and leave the blonde behind.

She didn't _need_ Yuzu's kisses - she _wanted_ them. But if the girl was unwilling, she was more than capable of taking care of this problem _herself _in a nice warm bath.

"Wait - Mei!"

The hand that appeared on her wrist forced her to stop - holding her in place merely a foot from the edge of the bed.

Turning back to the blonde, she found Yuzu sitting cross legged on top of the slightly mangled covers and giving her the most pitiful, pleading yet hopeful expression.

"Come on, Mei - please?" the girl asked, sticking her lower lip out in a pout at the same moment. "How about we make a game of it? You tell me one thing that bothered you today, and I'll give you a kiss in return!"

"This game is bothering me," she answered dryly, very much un-amused by the little trick the blonde was trying to use to get her to talk.

But then she was startled by Yuzu standing and placing a kiss to her lips - one which the blonde tried to end quickly, had Mei not wrapped a hand firmly behind the girl's neck and held her in place - extending the kiss two more seconds...three...four…

"Mmm-k!" Yuzu said with a small gasp for more air, again pressing against her shoulders to break the kiss. "So you get the rules."

Frowning at the loss of contact, she took a step forward - forcing Yuzu to sit back down on the bed in order to move away from her.

"Why don't I just _take_ these kisses instead?" she asked, leaning forward to place both hands on either side of Yuzu, grinning when the girl had to lean backward and scoot away from her.

An idle threat...and Yuzu knew that.

Or, she hoped Yuzu knew that.

While the blonde may no longer be completely innocent, she was still overwhelmingly...pure. It was that purity that Mei shied away from, but also protected above all else.

She hadn't done a very good job of that when they'd first met - unknowingly stealing the girl's first kiss as some nasty prank to fluster the new girl. But after she'd figured out that the flirty persona Yuzu put up was nothing more than a mirage to mask inexperience, she'd immediately put a stop to those 'jokes.'

Even so, it was still something for which she was silently trying to atone for - which she did by making sure nothing was done without Yuzu's verbal or, in most cases, nonverbal consent.

As frustrating as that may sometimes be - right now being the perfect example.

"C-come on, Mei," the blonde replied, already beginning to lose much of whatever confidence the girl had mustered. "Just humor me, for once?"

"I'm always humoring you…" she muttered.

But she could feel her resolve waning. Whether that was due to the blonde's pleading or her general lack of energy after the events of the day, she couldn't tell. All she knew was that it didn't seem _so_ horrible to allow Yuzu to play this little 'game' for a little while.

She did still want a kiss or two...her skin tingling with unquenched desire - and there was the risk that if she refused, the girl would freeze her out for the rest of the night.

Which would _not_ be enjoyable.

Letting out a long sigh of exasperation, Yuzu immediately grinned - knowing that the sound meant Mei had acquiesced to the request. Moving quickly up to their pillows, Yuzu patted the space directly in front of her, clearly signaling for Mei to lay down facing the blonde.

Another sigh escaped her as she did as instructed, lying down on her left side right beside Yuzu. From this distance, no more than a foot apart, she could see every fleck and speckle in the girl's emerald eyes. She could smell the strawberry shampoo emitting from long blonde curls. And she could feel warmth emanating from the girl's skin - traveling the short distance between them to raise goosebumps along her own arms.

Honestly, she couldn't remember if they'd ever laid like this before - gazing into each other's eyes, sharing a connection that seemed to transcend merely physical.

Or, if they were ever like this, the moment was instantly swallowed up in the passion fueled lust they seemed to share.

"So," she began, not knowing what was expected of her next.

"Sooo…" Yuzu repeated, wiggling ever so slightly amongst the covers to get even more comfortable. "Why was your day hard?"

A thousand different reasons rushed forward all at once, linked to the various forms and paperwork that had been stacked upon her desk after school.

"I'm President of the Student Council," she answered sarcastically, knowing that the catchall answer was hardly what the blonde was searching for.

"Meiiii."

Sighing, she rolled her eyes and began with the first thing that popped into her head.

"The kendo team broke another light in the ceiling of their practice room."

Yuzu's eyes widened at the words, before the girl dissolved into giggles - the sound bringing the faintest of tugs at the corners of her lips.

"The _ceiling_? How did they break something in the ceiling?"

"You're asking the wrong person," she answered, shrugging one shoulder awkwardly with her other still pressed into the bed.

How those idiots had accomplished that feat for the second time in two weeks, she had no idea. But she was pretty close to making them practice outside.

Chuckling for another few seconds, Yuzu murmured a soft, "Well, they sound stupid," before leaning forward and capturing her lips in a soft and tender kiss - delivering the reward as promised.

As the blonde resumed her previous position with a satisfied grin, Mei decided that maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all. Although, at this rate it would be years before she felt satisfied.

"Anything else?" Yuzu asked her, shining eyes suggesting that the girl sincerely hoped Mei had more to offer than that.

Which, of course, she did.

"The drama club needs more money to build sets for the winter play."

Yuzu scoffed at that.

"If they were better at acting, they wouldn't need such good sets," the blonde replied with a roll of green eyes.

The response nearly pulled a laugh out of her, knowing exactly how infamous the drama students were for being brilliant at set design and horrible at...anything else related to acting.

Her eyes were already fluttering shut as Yuzu moved towards her - the blonde placing another maddeningly chaste kiss to her lips before pulling away.

"Is there a more mature version of this game?" she grumbled, looking anywhere but at the satisfied grin she knew Yuzu was giving her.

But, despite herself, she was actually feeling better - the pent up frustration from the day seeming to melt away as they laid there together.

It was hard to hold onto her agitation when the blonde was giving her that loving smile which seemed to have no end - the one she spent nearly every waking second trying to earn.

"What else, Mei," Yuzu asked softly, the request nothing more than a bygone formality at this point.

"Someone wrote 'girls suck' in spray paint in the locker room," she said, scowling as she thought of the horribly scrawled red paint dripping down the normally well polished walls.

Vandalism was a very serious offense, which Yuzu seemed to recognize with eyes widened in shock.

"But...who would do that? We go to an all _girls_ school."

"Someone who hates girls?" she offered, having heard those very same words thrown about the hallways at one point or another.

"Or someone exceptionally _fond_ of girls," Yuzu replied cheekily, waggling her eyebrows at the suggestive comment.

"Are you confessing to your crimes, then?"

Yuzu burst out laughing at the dry joke, shaking her head at the same moment - golden curls falling across the girl's face.

And she was...beautiful - sometimes Yuzu was just so...painfully beautiful - the kind that seemed to shine from within. The blinding kind of beauty that sometimes Mei had to look away from, but sometimes _couldn't_ look away from.

Suddenly, the blonde was pressing closer to her, snaking one hand into her hair and pulling her gently forward for another kiss - this one lasting a little longer, the pressure a little greater, than the last one.

When Yuzu finally pulled away, the loss of contact left her with a burning desire in her chest - the feeling only amplified by the fact that the blonde remained pressed against her, the space between them dwindling to nothing more than the clothes they were wearing.

"Anything else?" the girl whispered to her softly, fingers fiddling with the tie still wrapped around her neck - loosening the knot before pulling the item off completely.

"The...choir wants permission to practice in the cafeteria - during lunch hour," she replied, temporarily losing focus as the blonde discarded her tie onto the floor and began working on the buttons on her blazer.

"God, they're such attention whores," Yuzu sighed, clearly distracted by what her fingers were struggling to accomplish. "I can't stand some of those girls."

"Me neither."

The reply temporarily halted the blonde's movements, drawing curious green eyes upward before a soft giggle slipped past tempting lips.

"Are you even _allowed_ to say you don't like other students?" Yuzu asked, eyes shimmering with joy at Mei's accidental admission.

"Of course I can. I just choose not to so no one can claim I play favorites," she answered easily, even though internally she was willing the girl to resume her prior movements - to free her from what still lay between them.

Instead, Yuzu gave her another kiss - this one long and openly caring, overflowing with adoration.

It was the kind of kiss that made her wish she were a lot better with feelings, so that she could explain to Yuzu exactly how it made her feel - how it melted her heart like a stick of butter on a hot day, how it clouded her mind and ruined her judgement in an instant.

"I'm pretty sure you play favorites with me," the blonde added after pulling away, a sly grin saying that that little fact made Yuzu feel incredibly special.

She felt a retort appear on her tongue, instinct nearly taking away the unintended information she'd divulged to Yuzu, but she managed to hold it back.

There would be no harm in Yuzu believing Mei favored her.

Besides, she did favor the blonde. Tremendously.

"The museum trip for one of the upper classes has to be canceled because replacement chaperones couldn't be found in time," she offered unprompted in an attempt to steer the conversation away from that particular topic.

There was no need to have another one of those 'how much do you like me' conversations tonight...

"Huh? Oh - well, museums are boring anyway. No one will care about that," Yuzu replied, the girl seeming to have temporarily forgotten the game they were playing as her hands resumed fumbling with the buttons on Mei's blazer.

As the last button came undone, the girl pulled her forward by both breasts of the blazer, planting another kiss on her lips - this one much more heated than before.

She smirked when she felt a warm tongue slide across her lips before Yuzu hastily backed away.

At least now she knew that the girl wouldn't be able to hold out on her much longer. The blonde might have the best intentions, but Yuzu was just as susceptible to...temptation...as Mei was - if not more so.

The faint blush on Yuzu's cheeks was becoming more visible by the second as the girl let out a soft cough in embarrassment for the momentary loss of willpower.

"Sorry, um...anything else?" the blonde asked, although it felt like the game was continuing only for appearances now - nothing more than a shell that was threatening to crack at any moment.

This time, she needed to pause to think for a moment as her brain began to grow much more focused upon the only thing that seemed to matter at this second - the beautiful girl pressed against her, shallow breaths causing Yuzu's chest to rise and fall against her own.

While trying to come up with something that could continue the game, she also tried to figure out how to appropriately end it without hurting the girl's feelings.

"Some teachers are still saying they think someone is sneaking into the staff lounge and stealing food," she finally said - the very last item that had been presented to her as she'd been on her way out the door.

"Jeez…" Yuzu replied, gently picking up a small lock of Mei's hair and running it absentmindedly through her fingers. "She's still doing that? You'd think she'd have gotten bored by now…"

The words immediately derailed the mental undressing she'd been doing of the girl.

"...you know who it is?"

Green eyes shot open at the question, Yuzu only then realizing what she'd said.

"Uh, n-no! Of course not!" the blonde stammered before leaning forward and giving her a hasty kiss that she didn't even have time to return. "So, what else happened today?"

"Yuzu…" she replied in her best 'I'm not letting this go until you tell me' voice - which _always_ worked.

"Fineee...but don't tell anyone it was me who told you!" the girl whined, hands thankfully threading through her hair once more. "It's that girl with the glasses and short brown hair, a grade below us - you know, the one who's always staring at you in the cafeteria?"

Truthfully, she'd gotten used to blocking out the stares she received years ago. Although, for whatever reason, she always felt Yuzu's eyes whenever they fell upon her during the lunch hour...

But, with the rest of the description, she was pretty sure she knew exactly who Yuzu was talking about. Undoubtedly someone else trying to get her attention by misbehaving - which was really the very _worst_ way to get her attention.

"Thank you," she murmured softly, leaning forward herself this time to give the girl a kiss of appreciation. "You just solved one of my problems."

Yuzu gave her a huge smile in return, the blonde clearly ecstatic to have been able to help - even if that meant unintentionally tattling on a fellow student. But Mei would make sure to be very delicate when handling the matter, and Yuzu's name would never be remotely attached to the scolding.

Lying here right now, she didn't know why she'd never talked with Yuzu about Student Council work before. She'd always figured the girl wouldn't understand, or just wouldn't be interested, but the opposite really seemed to be true.

And, for her part, hearing Yuzu speak the words she would love to say, but found too immature to vocalize, did wonders for the overwhelming annoyance she'd held just moments prior.

"Any other problems I can help with?" Yuzu asked hopefully.

As usual, the blonde delivered the perfect opening on a silver platter - without even realizing it.

"Actually, there _is_ one more problem you could help me with...but it has nothing to do with school..." she replied quietly, moving her lips to Yuzu's ear and taking a quick nip, feeling a shudder run through the girl's body when she exhaled.

"I'll...I'll still help - if I can."

In their time together, she'd discovered many versions of Yuzu that she...enjoyed rather dearly.

But this - this was one of her absolute favorites.

Words disjointed, breaths short and shallow, pupils blown out of proportion, lips slightly parted as if just _waiting_ for Mei to move a millimeter closer.

No one else got to see Yuzu like this. And, if she somehow managed to maintain the blonde's affections, no one else ever would.

Which meant she would likely be playing more of these silly games Yuzu cooked up, but, honestly, this actually hadn't been all that bad. And it hadn't been too difficult, either.

For that, maybe _Yuzu_ deserved a reward.

Weaving one hand into locks of blonde, she pulled Yuzu forward, crashing their lips together in a passionate kiss - one that had been delayed far too long. Rolling the girl onto the bed, she was back on top, knees straddling the girl's waist while her hands began running wild.

But unlike when she'd stormed into the room tonight, it wasn't angry or forceful. It was greedy...ravenous...insatiable.

After not too long, she broke away - staring down at the breathless girl pinned beneath her, golden hair splayed in all directions upon the pillow.

Of all the people..._this_ was the girl she'd allowed into her heart.

Most days, it made absolutely no sense to her. But there were rare moments...like this one right now...where she realized just how amazing Yuzu was. And how incredibly fortunate she was that the girl had seen something in her that she'd never seen herself.

Making a snap decision, she abruptly pushed herself off of the girl, jumping down to the floor and walking purposefully towards their bathroom.

"I'm going to take a bath," she called back to the blonde.

"O-oh, ok…"

Stopping on her heel and spinning back to the girl sitting up on the bed, she relished the look of disappointment etched upon Yuzu's face.

It was an expression that said Yuzu wanted her - just as much as she wanted Yuzu.

"And you're coming with me," she added, watching the disappointment morph into temporary confusion.

"But I already - ohhhh…"

She rolled her eyes as she stepped into the bathroom, trying to feign agitation that was now nowhere to be found - thanks to Yuzu's clever little game.

Moving over to the tub, she turned the hot water on as high as it would go - the thunderous sound of water rushing into the basin filling the small room. Straightening up, she pulled off her already unbuttoned blazer before quickly setting in on the buttons lining her white collared shirt, knowing that Yuzu's pajamas would take much less time to be removed.

She didn't turn around when she heard the bathroom door close and the lock slide into place - instead aiming a smirk towards the bathroom wall as she removed her shirt in one fluid motion.

Mood-wise, she was in a much better place than she had been when she'd left school grounds today.

And that was a very good thing. That meant that she would be able to thoroughly enjoy what was going to happen next.

Maybe it wasn't so bad to talk things out - to let Yuzu know what was bothering her instead of just ravaging the girl with little to no explanation.

Although...that method definitely had its merits, too…

...maybe next time.

She did have an awful lot of frustrating work to do as Student Council President, after all.


End file.
